


Rejected...?

by chatsladybugaboo



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Clueless Boys, Crying, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Rejection, Reveal, adrien falls for marinette, but i love my children, men are idiots tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-07-25 17:45:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7542040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chatsladybugaboo/pseuds/chatsladybugaboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“I-I like you.”</i>
  <br/>
  <i>“I’m sorry, Marinette…”</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! So this is my first ever fic, and similarly my first ML fic (duh).  
> I am a terrible writer. I have known it all my life. But I really, really wanted to create my own story after reading so many lovely ones on here, so here we go!  
> I'm a bit embarrassed, because I'm not sure if this will be any good for you guys, but to be honest I love it so far.  
> So hopefully you like it too! Please let me know what you think.
> 
> P.S. I am HORRIFIC at spelling and grammar, so if you notice any mistakes please let me know!
> 
> P.S.S. The summary is a spoiler. But so is the title, so? Oops. Also, it is rated teen because I use some ~bad words~ at certain points, and I may or may not add some violence once the akumas start to appear. We'll see.

_“Oh my GOSH girl! I cannot BELIEVE it!”_

_“I know Alya!! He said I’m cute! HE SAID I’M CUTE!!!”_

\---

Marinette and Alya were sitting in the school library at lunch, talking about Adrien, as per usual. However, today was different. Today wasn’t Marinette’s usual gushing. Today wasn’t Alya calming down Marinette’s wild fantasies. Today was special.

It all started when Marinette woke up. Late. Again. But not only was she late. She was super late.

“TIKKI! WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME! I HAVE TO BE AT SCHOOL IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES!”

Great. The perfect way to start a Monday.

“I tried Marinette! But you know as well as I do that waking you up on time is impossible.” Said the little red Kwami floating by Marinette’s pillow.

“That’s not… totally true… all of the time…” Marinette weakly tried to argue as she scrambled to gather up her clothes and get dressed. “Have you seen my hair ties? I don’t know where I put them last night.”

“Here they are!” said Tikki, handing two black hair ties to Marinette as she brushed her medium length black hair. She parted it down the middle and grabbed half in order to do her usual pigtails when _–SNAP!_

“Oh no… Looks like I’ll have to wear a ponytail today Tikki… Now that I think about it I haven’t worn my hair in a ponytail since-“ – _SNAP!_

Marinette just stared at the mirror in disbelief. Both of her hair ties. Gone. Her last two hair ties. This day was just getting worse and worse.

“Uh oh.” Said Tikki, rummaging around Marinette’s cluttered desk to look for more.

“Don’t bother Tikki. Those were my last ones. I was going to get more the next time I was out with Alya…” Marinette ran her hands through her hair, making it look orderly. “Now that I think about it, Alya is the only one in class who’s seen me with my hair down. Besides you I mean, Tikki.”

The little bug floated over to Marinettes side, looking at her reflection in the mirror. “Well I think you look beautiful either way!”

“Thanks, Tikki,” said Marinette, hugging her friend against her cheek.

“But don’t forget, you have to go to school. You only have 3 minutes left!” Urged the Kwami.

“OH NO!” Yelled Marinette, abandoning the mirror and grabbing her school bag. She reached for her purse just as Tikki flew inside and closed the latch. She ran down the stairs and into the bakery, shouting a hasty “Goodbye!” to her parents as she ran out the door. She thought she heard her mother say, ” _She’s late again? Oh dear…”_ but she was running too fast to tell. She sprinted across the street and into the classroom with one minute to spare.

\---

“Girl, you made it! I was worried you were going to be late again!” Said Alya, looking up from her phone as Marinette walked in.

“Marinette! I love your new hairstyle! It’s SOOOO CUTE!” squealed a voice from the back of the class.

Marinette looked up to see her classmate Rose running towards her, Juleka not far behind.

“Thanks!” Marinette said, blushing slightly. “I, uh, just felt like going for a different look today.” She laughed, not wanting to admit she simply broke her last two hair ties like a total klutz.

“We’ll it’s so cute!” Rose said, Juleka nodding behind her. “You look so mature!”

“Surprisingly, I agree too.” Sneered a voice behind Marinette. She turned to see Chloe walking towards her as well. “You look MUCH better like this than with your usual boring, ugly pigtails. Though you could still do with a wardrobe change,” Chloe laughed, rudely. _'W_ _hat a snob,'_ thought Marinette. But before she could say anything in response, she heard a third voice pipe up.

“There’s nothing wrong with her wardrobe, Chloe. And Marinette ALWAYS looks cute. I personally really like her pigtails. They look good on her, and that’s what makes Marinette, Marinette!”

Marinette didn’t believe her own ears. It couldn’t be, no way. She must be dreaming. She actually forgot to wake up for school and was having the nicest dream of her life. There was no way _HE_  of _ALL_ people could say that.

She slowly turned, expecting to unfortunately wake up from this wonderful dream, but instead came to find a pair of bright green eyes smiling up at her.

“Just felt like a change today, Marinette?” Adrien said from his desk as Chloe stomped to her seat, fuming. “I think it looks great! But I do miss the pigtails.” He said, jokingly, smiling up at Marinette.

“EEP!” Marinette squeaked, ready to melt into the ground. “I-I, uh, yeah. H-hi A-Adrien! I-I, well, uh, no, y-you see, I, um, _myhairtiesbrokethismorningandIneedtobuymore_!” Marinette blurted out, her face turning bright red as she averted Adrien’s questioning look. He seemed about to respond when their teacher walked in the room.

“I know I am a bit late, but that is no reason to be out of your seats.” Said Ms. Bustier.

Marinettes face flushed even redder as she quickly sat down behind Adrien. Here entire body burned as she sat there, completely oblivious to the teacher lecturing. A white piece of paper slid into her view and she looked over to see Alya looking absolutely EXTATIC. Marinette opened to note to simply see “OMFG!!!” written in the center surrounded by several hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you are enjoying this so far?  
> Please leave any feedback you can; constructive critacism is always helpful!
> 
> This chapter was a bit shorter than the next few I have started, and those should be coming soon. I want to get a bit of feedback from you guys before posting any more, just in case I need to drastically change something. But I have written up to chapter 4 so far, so the next three chapters will probably all come out around the same time.
> 
> And like I said, I hope you can bear with my awful writing, and thank you so much for reading! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alya and Nino are literally da best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, I lied. I got a bit too excited and so I'm posting this earlier than I expected to.  
> Enjoy!
> 
> P.S. I ship AlyaxNino HELLA hard so I am assuming here that they started dating after Animan.

When it was beginning to seem like the morning would never end, the lunch bell rang. Marinette, who had finally started to calm down, looked up to see Adrien and Nino walk out of the classroom. She felt a tug on her arm and turned to see Alya staring down at her. “Library. Now.” Her best friend urged, basically dragging Marinette along behind her.

The two found a table towards the back of the room, out of earshot of everyone else. They sat down and immediately began to squeal.

“Oh my GOSH girl! I cannot BELIEVE it!”

“I know Alya!! He said I’m cute! HE SAID I’M CUTE!!!”

Marinette was over the moon! This was the greatest possible thing she could have ever wished to happen! Well, besides of course Adrien and her wedding day. But that would come later on. This was happening right now.

“He likes you. I knew it.” Said Alya, triumphantly. She had been implying Adrien liked Marinette for months now, but Marinette always denied it.

“No… do you really think he could, Alya?” Marinette asked, quietly. She usually dismissed her friend’s crazy theories about who Adrien liked, but now she wasn’t so sure. They had finally begun to become closer recently thanks to Alya and Nino always insisting the four of them hang out together. She was becoming more comfortable around him and was finding out how fun and dorky Adrien really was. He made so many bad puns, just like another blonde boy she knew. But he wasn’t nearly as cocky.  And she wasn’t stuttering anymore around him! Or well, not as much anyway. Maybe he could actually like her?

“You have got to tell him how you feel. Now’s the perfect time!” insisted Alya. She had brought this up to Marinette once before, but after Marinette’s near breakdown she didn’t want to press the issue further, and never brought it up again. But now was different.

“That’s a great idea!” Marinette heard from behind the nearest bookshelf. “Oh, shit…”

“NINO!” Alya shouted, forgetting they were in the library. “Get out here!” she whispered loudly, remembering where they were. “Why are you here?!”

“I forgot my Physics book at home, so I needed to borrow one from the library for next period.” Said the boy sheepishly as he stepped out from behind the books.

“Are you sure you weren’t just spying on your _beautiful_ girlfriend?” Alya smirked.

Nino blushed, but rolled his eyes and ignored Alya, turning towards Marinette. “I think Alya’s right, Marinette. Something is definitely up with Adrien lately, and I think it’s you. He’s been spacing out a lot more during class and always asks if you’re going to come along when we hang out. That boy is dense, but I know my bro better than he knows himself. He’s crushing on you. Hard.”

“SEE?!” insisted Alya. “I told you!”

Marinette sat, looking from Nino to Alya. She was so nervous, and doubted it would work. But maybe? Just maybe… she actually had a shot?

“I don’t know….” She muttered, staring down at her hands.

“Don’t worry Marinette, it’s going to go great!” Reassured Alya, knowing what her friend must be thinking on the inside.

“Why would I lie about this, Marinette? You and Adrien are two of my best friends, and I only want you both to be happy!” Said Nino, putting his hand on Marinettes shoulder. “You could do it today, after school! Alya and I will be there to support you the entire time!” He reassured, Alya nodding vigorously next to him.

“I can’t today, I have to go buy more hair ties…” Marinette said slowly. “…Maybe tomorrow though.” She said, her friends silently cheering.

“I’ve got to go meet back up with Adrien before the dude starts coming to look for me, but I know you can do this Marinette!” Nino said supportively, running off to check out his history book.

“I am so happy for you girl!” Alya said, taking her friend’s hand.

“Nothing has even happened yet Alya! But…” Marinette looked down, her smile growing larger by the second, “me too.”

\---

Tuesday came.

And went.

Wednesday; still nothing.

Thursday was a bust too.

Getting Adrien alone was SO HARD. Marinette was always there later than most of her other classmates, especially Adrien who usually arrived very early, so she couldn’t even wait for him outside of the classroom. No matter how hard she tried, it never happened. Lunch was no good either, there were too many students around. Particularly one blond brat who won’t be named, constantly shouting after “Adrikinsss!!!” making the entire class shudder.

And of course, this was one of Adrien’s busiest weeks all year; his schedule was so packed that he was rushed off to some photo shoot, fencing practice, or Chinese lesson every day. He left so quickly that Nino barely even got to say goodbye to him, much less Marinette.

It was now Friday and Marinette’s confidence was wavering. She was at her tipping point, and soon she was afraid she’d NEVER be able to work up the courage to confess her feelings to ANYONE, forget about Adrien Agreste!

She got to school earlier than ever today, 15 whole minutes before class started. A personal record! But half of her classmates, including Adrien, were already there. How did they all get up so early?

“Hi Marinette!” Adrien said cheerfully, turning to face her as she sat down. Nino and Alya had yet to arrive. “You’re pretty early today! That’s a first.” He said, jokingly.

“Y-yeah, my parents needed me to help out in the bakery this morning so I was already up.” Marinette managed to lie, not making eye contact.

“Well, maybe they should ask for your help more often so Ms. Bustier will stop being mad at you.” The blonde boy say, honestly hoping that his friend wouldn’t have to get yelled at more in the future.

Marinette just laughed, too shy to say anything else. Chloe was already glaring at her, and she was quickly losing her cool. Adrien just stared at her, waiting to see if she would respond. Those green eyes were so beautiful, but this was like torture!

Finally, Nino and Alya walked in, holding hands. Adrien turned to face them and immediately clasped his hands together, saying “Awww, look at my wonderful children, so in love, so pure!”

“Watch yourself, Agrest” Alya warned, sitting in her usual spot next to Marinette as Nino simply rolled his eyes. “You’re here early today!” She said, turning towards her best friend.

“Yeah, I already congratulated her!” Adrien Joked. “Her parents should make her help out in the bakery more often!”

Alya shot her friend a questioning look, knowing that Marinette’s parents never asked her for help in the mornings. However, seeing how red Marinette was becoming as she stared intensely at nothing on her desk, she realized why she had gotten there so early. Catching on to the situation quickly and realizing that Marinette was at her breaking point, she quickly said “Adrien! Are you free after school? Marinette asked me to hang out today but I promised Nino we would go on a date,” She said, glaring at Nino before he could blurt out a question, running everything. “Would you be able to hang out with her instead? I feel bad just leaving her hanging!” Alya ignored Marinette’s silent pleas, staring at the boy sitting in front of her best friend.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry Marinette!” Adrien said, facing her. “I have another stupid phot shoot right after school, and it looks like it will last a pretty long time.”

“O-oh, no, that’s ok! D-don’t worry about it!” Marinette reassured, waving her hands in front of her.

“I’m sorry this week has been so busy for me.” Adrien said, looking down. “But today is the last day, and then it’s back to my normal schedule.”

“Then why don’t the four of us hang out tomorrow!” Nino chimed in, looking excited. “We can hang out all day and go to the movies or something!”

“That’s a great idea!” Alya said, grinning at her boyfriend with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Perfect!” Adrien said. “I’ll meet you all at Alya’s house around noon then?” he asked, turning to look back at the girl behind him once again.

“O-ok!” stammered Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this next chapter and I will probably post the next few soon.  
> Please let me know what you think; any feedback is greatly appreciated! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm sooo sorry that I haven't updated in a while even though I said I would be updating right away. I went away for the weekend and didn't have access to internet.  
> But! In order to make it up to you I'll be posting both chapter 3 and chapter 4 tonight! <3
> 
> Also, I love Alya and Nino so much tbh. They are literally me.  
> Just imagine the two of them pushing Adrien and Marinette's heads together and saying "Now kiss!"

It was halfway through the lesson when Marinette’s phone buzzed in her lap. She checked to see a new message in her group chat with Alya and Nino.

 **Nino:** Am I smart or am I smart?

 **Alya:** Babe, this is why I love you

 **Nino:** I know :*

 **Marinette:** Ok, what is happening right now??

 **Alya:** Tomorrow, while we’re hanging out, Nino and I will leave for a bit

 **Nino:** We’ll “have to do some couple thing” or some other excuse

 **Alya:** And you and Adrien can have allll the time you need to talk ;) ;) ;)

 **Marinette:** GUYS! I CAN’T!

 **Nino:** :(

 **Alya:** Marinette, you can do this!

 **Nino:** *thumbs up emoji* you got this!

 **Marinette:** But guysss

 **Marinette:** I only JUST started talking to him SLIGHTLY like a normal human being :/ how am I supposed to even do this?

 **Marinette:** "Hey Adrien, I have a mega huge crush on you and I know I hardly can talk to you but please be my Boyfriend!"

 **Nino:** Yep!

 **Alya:** Sounds good!

 **Marinette:** GUYS!!! :(

 **Nino:** Mari, I told you, I know my bro better than he knows himself

 **Nino:** He’s got it for you badddddddd

 **Nino:** He was practically ALL OVER you this morning

 **Alya:** …ok that’s a bit of a stretch. BUT! he deff likes you girl

 **Alya:** and if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his ass! :D

 **Nino:** x_x rip in peace Adrien

 **Alya:** I can see the headlines now. “Super dumb model, Adrien Agreste, whooped to death by beautiful journalist, Alya Cesaire, author of the Ladyblog”

 **Nino:** My poor bro… he never stood a chance…

 **Marinette:** STOP IT GUYS! LMAO

Marinette had to stifle her giggles before replying again. They were already at risk of getting caught by the teacher for texting in class, and there was NO WAY she was risking this conversation being read by their principal, Mr. Damocles.

 **Marinette:** …

 **Marinette:** ok

 **Marinette:** I’ll do it

 **Marinette:** You guys better be right

 **Nino:** PARTY PARTY PARTY!

 **Alya:** <3 I always am ;)

\---

Saturday finally arrived. The clock said 11:43, and Marinette was about to leave. She checked herself in the mirror one last time, and triple checked the last message from Alya saying “That one is PERFECT girl! He’ll love it!”

She had spent the last three or so hours trying on different outfits and sending pictures to Alya to decide what to wear. They had finally decided on a simple sun dress Marinette had made for herself; the top was white with a round neckline and no sleeves. It had a chiffon, pastel yellow skirt that ended just above her knees, and a bright red ribbon around her waist that Tikki helped to tie in the back. She matched it with bright red flats and a simple gold bracelet.

Lastly, she used the hair ties she had bought on Monday to put her hair up into her trademark pigtails that apparently Adrien though were “cute,” giggling as she remembered his words for the bazillionth time. “How do I look?” She asked Tikki.

“Absolutely adorable, Marinette! Alya is right!” Said the Kwami, her eyes sparkling. “He’s going to think you’re beautiful!”

“Thank you,” Marinette hummed, blushing slightly. She opened her purse and Tikki flew in.

Marinette took one last look in the mirror before leaving her house and heading towards Alya’s.

\---

“Sooo, what movie do we all want to watch?” Nino asked once everyone had arrived. They were all standing outside the door to Alya’s apartment building, trying to decide what to do.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything good out right now.” Huffed Alya, looking at the show times on her phone.

“We don’t _have_ to see a movie,” mentioned Adrien, looking between his two friends. “I’m actually pretty hungry, to be completely honest.”

“We could go to that café down the street?” Suggested Marinette, looking up at Adrien, timidly. He was gorgeous, as per usual. She was beginning to get nervous again. At least she had a while before anything was even going to happen. She had to prepare herself. She could do this.

“Why don’t you three come upstairs, and I can make you lunch?” suggested Alya, gesturing towards her building’s front door. “My mom took my sisters to the park today, so they won’t bother us, thank god! And she just went grocery shopping, so I have tons of stuff for sandwiches!”

“I love sandwiches!” said Nino and Adrien at the same time, fist bumping each other and laughing.

“That’s settled then! We can play video games or watch TV after we eat. Up you go!” Alya laughed, nearly pushing the two boys through the door as Marinette followed.

Alya led the three to her room and opened the door. “Marinette, you and Adrien can stay here. Nino, you’re helping me make lunch. It might take a while.” She said, grinning at the girl who was now gaping at her.

“Okie dokie, captain!” Said Nino, turning and heading towards the kitchen, giving Marinette a small wink as he walked by.

“Good luck, girl!” Alya whispered to Marinette, following Nino to the kitchen and shutting the door behind her.

Oh no. Not yet! Marinette wasn’t ready! This was too soon, she needed more time! She was supposed to have an entire movie to plan what she was going to say! ALYA!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like I said, I'll be posting chapter 4 super soon, I just need to proof read it one last time and make sure everything is good to go!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello passengers, this is your conductor speaking. Welcome aboard the Angst Train™. We have a ways to go so sit back, relax (if you can!), and enjoy the ride. Choo choooo!

“Your dress is really nice, Marinette. Did you make it?” Adrien asked, sitting down on Alyas desk chair. She turned to look at him, eyes growing wide. He looked at her happily, waiting for an answer. She nodded furiously, her face turning bright red. Marinette turned red a lot, he noticed, not for the first time.

“T-t-thanks!” she squeaked. “Yeah, I made it!” Marinette fidgeted with her hands as she looked at the floor.

“Well you shouldn’t be embarrassed about it! It’s really good!” Adrien said, worried he made her self-conscious about her design. He actually loved all of her work, and to be honest he sometimes wished she would make clothes for him too, so he wouldn’t always have to wear his father’s clothing. He wasn’t a big fan of his father’s designs, and Marinette’s were always awesome. But he could never ask her for something, that would be rude.

“Oh, I-I’m not! I actually really like this design.” Marinette said, looking towards Adrien’s but still unable to look him in the eyes. “I hope that doesn’t make me conceited.” She said, jokingly.

“No not at all! You _should_ be proud of it! It looks really good on you.” Adrien reassured, waving his hands in front of his face. “I was just worried I made you self-conscious because you seemed to get embarrassed after I said something.” Adrien said, chuckling.

“I-I, well, no. Not about t-the dress…” Muttered Marinette.

“Well what’s wrong then?” asked Adrien, now beginning to get concerned. Marinette had seemed fidgety all morning; was something bothering her? He didn’t think anything of it at first because Marinette was ALWAYS fidgety. At least around him anyway. He often wondered if he intimidated Marinette, or if she still hadn’t forgiven him for that gum incident the first day they met. Maybe she was worried because Alya and Nino had left them alone together.

“N-nothing!” She squeaked again, looking away.

“Oh, ok. You can tell me if there’s something bothering you, you know.” Adrien said, looking directly at Marinette.

He waited for an answer, but he didn’t want to pry. If Marinette wasn’t going to talk, he wasn’t going to force her. He respected her way too much for that. But he also didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, so he got up from the chair and headed towards the door. “It’s taking them a while so I’ll just go see if they need some hel-“

“WAIT!” Yelled Marinette, grabbing his wrist with both hands, cutting him off. He turned to see Marinette looking directly into his eyes, something she had never done before. He suddenly felt his face get hot. Her eyes were extremely blue. They were beautiful, quite frankly, and reminded him of someone, though he couldn’t quite remember who. Marinette was really cute, and she looked determined. She opened her mouth and closed it again, looking like she wanted to say something but was unsure. Her face quickly got redder than ever.

“Marinette, you can tell me anything.” Adrien said quietly, trying to reassure her, never breaking eye contact. A minute passed. Or maybe it was only a second. He wasn’t sure. He just kept staring into her big, blue eyes. But then…

“I-I-I! YOU! Uh, yeah, you. ILIKEYOU!” Marinette blurted out.

Silence. The two just stared at each other, unable to speak.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Adrien squawked, “M-me?!” at an octave so high he didn’t even now he could reach it, pointing to his chest with his free hand. Marinette was still clinging to his other wrist, slightly trembling. “Y-you? Me?!” he stammered. “I mean… you _like me_?” he said, his face getting almost as red as Marinette’s. This he had not expected. Not in a million years! Didn’t Marinette hate him?! Ok, well not HATE, but she was always so awkward around him, and she never seemed to be having as much fun as when she was talking with Alya or Nino. She was always stuttering and fidgeting. Yeah, it had been getting better the more they hung out, but he still thought she only hung out with him because those two made her. AND SHE _LIKED_ _HIM_! WHY _HIM_? Marinette, the funny, awesome Marinette, liked _him._ Why? He was so boring and plain. All he did was do whatever his father wanted; he was basically a drone. He never believed anyone other than Chloe could have a crush on him, and she obviously just liked him for his looks and money, which belonged to his father anyway. How could Marinette like _him_?

She nodded quickly, looking away. Realizing she was still grasping his wrist she let go quickly and took a few steps back. She stared at nothing, completely quiet.

“Me?” he said again in disbelief.

“I-I like you.” Marinette said again, more confidently but still not looking back at him. Her face was beet red.

A million thoughts were swimming through his head. Marinette liked him? He still couldn’t believe it. Wonderful, cute, _adorable_ Marinette liked HIM. He didn’t think it was possible. He had never even considered it. He thought extremely highly of Marinette, and wanted nothing more than to be friends with her. She was smart, funny, brave; she was honestly amazing. She was eaily one of his favorite people in the world.

But he had his Lady. He had never even thought about Marinette in that way before, or anyone for that matter. To him, Ladybug was the only girl he could be with. He loved HER.

He didn’t want to hurt Marinette, but he couldn’t accept her feelings. Even if Ladybug didn’t know how strongly he felt about her and didn’t reciprocate his affection and was constantly brushing him off, he couldn’t simply give up on her. Could he?

That wouldn't be fair to Marinette though, responding to her feelings even though he didn't feel the same. He loved someone else and he couldn't just ignore that because he didn't want to hurt her; that would be cruel.

He knew he had to explain himself to Marinette, so that she wouldn’t think that he didn’t like her. He just loved someone else already. He could simply explain and maybe it would be ok.

“I’m sorry, Marinette…” He said, looking down. “But I-“

“NO! I’M SORRY!” He looked up to see Marinette, practically shaking, looking anywhere but at him. Tears rimmed her eyes. His heart sank. He needed to explain.

“N-no Marinette, it’s not-“

“No!! I’m sorry! This is m-my fault! I shouldn’t have… I won’t force my feelings on you! Sorry. I just remembered, I have to go. I have to go. My parents need my help again. Sorry. T-tell Alya for me. I’m sorry.”

Her last few words were choked out, as if she couldn’t breathe. Adrien saw the first tear fall. He hated himself. He needed to explain, to tell her that he still wanted to be friends with her, tell her how much she meant to him, and that it wasn’t because of her. But she was quickly heading towards the door. He tried to grab her hand but she was too fast for him. “WAIT! MARINETTE!” He called. But it was too late. The door shut behind her. She was gone.

He stared where she had just been standing in disbelief. After what seemed like hours, or even days, he sank to his knees. He could hardly breathe. His head fell into his hands as he mumbled “What have I done…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 will be coming soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait and post this tomorrow but I can't sleep and I'm too excited so I'm posting it now as a HUGE thank you for the positive response I've received from all of you! I never imagined that so many people would enjoy something that I wrote, and it means so so much to me! <3

“Oh Nino, you're too funny,” Alya laughed from the hallway, hoping to give her friends a bit of warning that she was coming. She pushed her bedroom door open with her hip and shouted “So! Who’s ready for some sandwiches?! Wait-”

She looked down at Adrien, still kneeling on the floor. “What?” She looked around her room, her best friend nowhere in sight. “Where’s Marinette? What happened? Why are you sitting like that?” Adrien looked up at her, his expression revealing what she was afraid had happened, but she refused to believe it. “WHERE IS MARINETTE, ADRIEN?!” she screamed, dropping the platter of sandwiches she was holding, bread and fillings falling haphazardly at her feet.

“Alya, what’s wrong?” asked Nino, running down the hall after his shouting girlfriend. “What happened?” He asked, seeing Adrien, looking like he could cry at any minute. “Dude, where’s Marinette?” his voice tinged with worry.

“Gone.” Adrien quietly choked out. “I ruined everything.”

“What?” the couple asked simultaneously, looking extremely nervous, not wanting to hear the answer they knew they were going to get.

“It’s all my fault!” Adrien nearly cried.

\---

He quietly explained what had happened; Marinette’s confession, and his rejection.

“I was- no I still _am_  so extremely happy to recieve a confession from her! Marinette likes ME! Out of everyone she could have chosen, _she chose me_. But I messed up, guys. I didn’t think this would happen, I just wanted to explain myself-”

“WELL YOU BETTER START EXPLAINING NOW, AGRESTE!” Shouted Alya, tears rimming her eyes. She looked like she was ready to smash down anything and everything in front of her, especially one blonde idiot.

Adrien inched further away from her before saying “How can I respond to Marinette’s feelings when I like someone else? That’s not fair to her!”

“What?” asked Nino, clearly confused. “You mean you like someone? I thought you liked Marinette, dude?”

“Why would you think that, Nino? I’ve told you before, I like Ladybug. I never even thought about Marinette that way!”

“Yeah but that’s just a celeb crush, dude, I didn’t think you were actually serious! And besides, how could you not like her? Mari’s super cute, even you've said so yourself! I'd bet you that most of the guys (and some of the girls) in our class have had crushes on her at _some_ point. We know Nathaniel likes her! And even _I_ used to have a small crush on her, remember?" he said timidly, glancing at Alya. But she wasn't really paying attention to him; she was too busy plotting how to rip the limbs off of Adrien's body.

"Also, you’re always asking if she's going to hang with us! I thought for sure you were crushing, bro.”

“Well yeah, because she’s amazing and super fun to hang out with! That doesn’t mean I _like_ her!”

“Well, you said she was cute the other day!” Alya said, bitterly, rejoining the conversation. “Why would you flirt with a girl you don’t like?”

“I didn’t-“ Adrien started to say before Nino cut him off.

“Oh yes you did, dude. When she didn’t wear her pigtails. And you defended her in front of Chloe.” He said, crossing his arms. Everyone knew Adrien was dense, (it took him a full on confession to realize super obvious _Marinette_ had feelings for him) but this was worse than he thought. How could the guy not even notice _his own_ feelings?

“I can’t BELIEVE you!” shouted Alya, still looking like she wanted to bash Adrien’s head against the wall.

“But it’s true! Marinette _is_ super cute! And she’s always honest and so brave against Chloe, it makes me so mad that she picks on her. Chloe is my friend but she’s still a brat, and Marinette doesn’t deserve to be treated that way. She’s so funny and smart and she’s an amazing person.”

Every good thought Adrien had ever had about Marinette ran through his head. Every memory with her. Every laugh, every (almost) conversation. She was wonderful. He had always wanted to become closer with her, and he wished there was something he could do to make her feel more comfortable around him. To be honest, he was actually very jealous that Nino and Alya got to see the real Marinette. The non-stuttery, non-shy Marinette.

He thought she treated him differently because she didn’t like him, but now he realized that he may have gotten that completely wrong. Marinette _liked_ him. And knowing that made him the happiest he had been in a very long time. He thought more highly of her than anyone else in their class; she was smart and extremely funny. And unbelievably talented! The things she created were incredible; not many people could say that at their age.

She was kind to everyone she met (except for maybe Chloe, but she usually didn’t deserve it so he couldn’t blame her.) She was brave too; always standing up for herself and for others. She had helped out both him and the rest of their classmates more times than he could count! It seemed like every time something went wrong Marinette was there to fix it.

She was honestly incredible and he felt so strongly towards her. As a friend. Or, well, he _thought_ it was as a friend. He hated himself for what he had done. Seeing Marinette cry was one of the worst things he could ever imagine. And HE caused it. He never wanted to see her cry again. Ever. Was it really  _just_ as a friend...?

“Oh no…” he whispered, realizing something everyone else in the room already seemed to know. How could he not have noticed sooner? _Why_ hadn’t he noticed sooner?

“Yeah, you better be worried, Agreste! How _DARE_ you-“

But Alya was cut off by his next whisper, so quiet his friends almost didn't hear.

“I think I like Marinette.”

\---

“What?” Alya asked, looking ready to strangle the blonde sitting in front of her, his head once again in his hands. “WHAT?” she yelled. How could he do this to Marinette?! First he rejects her, and then – “WHAT?!” she shrieked, louder than ever. “YOU LIKE HER?!” excitement now flooding her words.

“I-I don’t know... Ladybug…” Adrien muttered.

“Dude, Ladybug is a _Superhero_! Everyone in all of Paris has a crush on her. Even my own damn girlfriend has a crush on her!” Nino said, gesturing to Alya.

Alya nodded, adding “Adrien, everyone has crushes on celebrities. But Marinette is a real person who has liked you for _months_. She’s _real_. You can actually have something with her.”

Adrien knew they were right, to an extent. They had no way of knowing how close he actually was with Ladybug; of course they couldn’t without also knowing that he was Cat Noir. But they were still right. Ladybug had rejected his advances every time. She never seemed to truly believe him, either, and he knew deep down that she wouldn’t accept his feelings despite how much it hurt. They were best friends, and partners. But that was all. And the fact that he was in so much _physical_ pain after seeing Marinette that upset, he couldn’t deny his feelings any longer.

“I like Marinette…” He stated. More to himself than to his friends. And he meant it. He would get over Ladybug. It would take some time, and it would be painful, but he would. But he would never get over the hate he felt towards himself for making Marinette cry. “I like Marinette.” He repeated, more confidently. “I have to fix this.”

“Hold on, I’ll try calling her.” Alya said, turning to find her phone.

“Dude, wait!” Nino called.

“What-“ Alya started to say, turning around, but cut herself off when she saw her door flung open and Adrien running down the hall towards the entrance to her apartment.

“YOU BETTER FIND HER!” She screamed after Adrien as he bolted outside. She started dialing Marinette’s number.

\---

He searched everywhere within a 5 block radius of Alya’s house. Nothing. Marinette was nowhere to be found. He took out his phone to check the time. It had been nearly an hour since she left Alya's place. She could be almost anywhere in Paris by now. His phone suddenly started to buzz and he saw Alya’s contact pop up on the screen.

“Have you heard from her?!” he asked frantically as he picked up the phone.

“I’m guessing that means you haven’t found her yet,” he heard his friend say, dejectedly. “She won’t answer my calls, she’s been hanging up after the first ring. All I’ve gotten is a text that said she's fine, don’t go looking for her, and don’t call her parents. I don’t know what to do.”

“Should I go to her house?” he said, nervously.

“No. No don’t, she said not to look and not to call her parents, she probably doesn’t want to worry them. I doubt she's home. She’s obviously alive, because she’s hanging up on my calls. I think we should just let her be for a little while. I’ll try calling her again later.” Said Alya, sighing.

“Dude, I think you should just go home for now.” Said Nino in the background. Alya must have put him on speaker phone. “We’ll let you know if we hear anything from her.”

“Oh…” said Adrien, completely defeated. He had really messed up. Marinette probably hated him by now. “Ok then… I’ll talk to you guys later I guess.” He cut the line before they could respond.

He began his walk home, hating himself exponentially more every second that passed. Not only did he crush Marinette’s heart because he was too stupid to realize his own feelings, and he continued to hang on to a crush that he somehow knew was dead from the start, but he probably ruined any chance he could ever have to be with Marinette as well. And they definitely could never be friends now. He ruined everything.

He just wished she was ok. “Please, just call Alya soon…” he said to himself, more worried than he had ever been in his life.

Little did he know that Ladybug was curled up atop the Eiffel Tower, bawling her eyes out, ignoring her best friend’s phone calls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've started chapter 6 already, so that should be coming pretty soon as well! ;)
> 
> P.S. I realize that I often times have trouble setting up a scene or describing what a person is thinking when I'm writing. I know what I think in my head but it's hard for me to express that in words a lot. So if you're ever reading this and you feel like something doesn't make sence or if there's a lack of description about something please let me know so that I can fix it and get better in the future! :)  
> And as usual, any constructive feedback is highly welcomed!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it took me a bit to finish this chapter. I wanted to post it lasst night, but I wasn't feeling too good so I didn't get the chance to finish proof reading.  
> But here it is!

That was when Adrien heard the screams.

An akuma.

"Not _now_..." He muttered, running into an alley to transform. He had enough on his plate right now, this was the LAST thing he needed.

"I hope it's not that girl you just _totally devastated_." Snickered Plagg, flying out of Adrien's shirt pocket. "Imagine? HA!"

"What?" Adrien stopped dead in his tracks. Marinette? There's no way. Could it be?

Could he have caused her to fall under Hawkmoth’s spell?

He slammed his fist against the alley wall, seething with rage. He wanted nothing more than to scream; rip himself limb from limb. If Marinette had gotten akumatized, because of HIM, he could never, _ever_ forgive himself.

"Kid, I was just joking." Said Plagg, flying in front of Adrien's face, concern in his eyes.

"CLAWS OUT!" He roared, ignoring the apologetic look on his kwami's face.

The poor cat was sucked into his ring before getting a chance to apologize. He knew Marinette was Ladybug (he had once caught a glimpse of Tikki flying into her locker) and there was no way she could become akumatized- but the kid didn't know that. Plagg had thought it would be funnier to watch him figure it out for himself so he never told Adrien. But the way his boy had reacted was uncharacteristically angry. Maybe he had taken his teasing a little too far?

Adrien ran as fast as he could through Paris in the direction of the screaming, hoping above everything that someone else in the city had attracted Hawkmoth before Marinette.

\---

Marinette rushed out of Alya's front door and down the steps of her building, hot tears silently flowing down her face. She didn't know what she was doing or where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to get away. To be away from him.

Before she realized what was happening, she found herself in an alley a few blocks over. She unlatched her purse and Tikki flew out.

"Oh, Marinette..." The little bug said, a look of utter sadness on her face.

Marinette refused to look at her. She simply wiped the tears off of her face, saying "I want to be alone right now."

"He was calling after you, Marinette," Tikki tried to say. "He had more to say."

Marinette didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to listen to Tikki or Adrien or _anyone_ right now.

"Spots on." She choked out, tears once again rimming her eyes.

A flash of pink, and she was Ladybug. It didn't make her feel better. She hadn't expected it too. But she needed to get as far away as she could, as fast as possible.

She flung her yo-yo and was quickly flying through the streets of Paris, ignoring the few fans who tried to call after her, excited to see their heroine out and about, protecting their city. But they didn't know.

Finally, she reached the top of the Eifel tower; her and Cat Noir's favorite spot to sit and stare at their city. But she didn't want to stare at Paris right now. The beautiful cityscape that could usually make her heart flutter even after seeing it for the millionth time simply looked ugly today. So much for the city of romance.

She just wanted to be alone, and no one could bother her way up there. Except one specific black cat. But luckily for her, Cat Noir wasn’t there. She hadn’t expected him to be, but with the way her luck was going that day she had been worried.

She curled up on the ledge, her back to the world, laying on her side, and grasped her knees against her chest. And she let the tears fall. Thick, heavy sobs that couldn't be heard by passersby due to her elevation. No one could see her. No one would know.

She cried for what seemed like an eternity, until she heard Tikki whisper through her earrings "Marinette, I think your phone is buzzing."

"It must be mama." She thought, wishing she didn't own a phone.

"Spots off." She whispered, releasing her transformation but not moving. She didn't want to answer, but worrying her parents was an even worse prospect in her mind. She reached into her purse to pull out her phone as Tikki floated next to her, patting her head gently.

But the contact on her screen wasn't her mother’s. Or her father’s. Or the bakery's number.

It was Alya.

Anger surged through Marinette. "This is all HER fault," she thought. "Her and Nino! THEY said it would be ok! THEY made me confess!"

She hung up the phone, angry at her best friend and her boyfriend for leading her to believe things could work out. She hung up the next few phone calls immediately, not even wanting to think of her friends.

She was about ready to throw her phone off of the tower when a small voice said "Maybe you should answer it, Marinette. They're probably just worried about you."

"NO TIKKI!" She shouted, anger flooding her words. "THEY MADE ME DO THIS! IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT!"

"They didn't make you Marinette. And they honestly believed it would go well. We all did..." Tikki urged.

"Spots on." Marinette said, sternly, not wanting to have this conversation right now.

Her transformation returned, but she couldn't shake what Tikki had said. They had honestly believed that Adrien liked her. She remembered the conversations between her, Alya, and Nino. They were honestly rooting for her. Alya had been from the very beginning, and even Nino had seemed so _sure_. They did nothing wrong. They weren't to blame for this, no one was. It was no one’s fault.

They _were_ probably just worried about her. She had ran out without even saying goodbye…

Marinette picked up her phone, having set it aside before transforming so that Tikki wouldn't bother her about it again.

She swiped to her chat with Alya and sent one simple message.

 **Marinette:** I'm fine, don't come looking for me, don't call my parents.

She set her phone down. It buzzed immediately. She hung up.

Again. She hung up.

One last time. She hung up.

She finally released a breath she didn't know she was holding in, and broke down again, every emotion she was feeling flooding out through her sobs. Sadness, anger, loneliness. Some emotions she had never experienced before; ones she didn’t know she had.

She cried for what seemed like hours. Or maybe it was only a few minutes. She couldn’t tell.

But suddenly she heard faint screams coming from below.

She wiped her eyes, the tears stopping immediately.

She looked over the edge of the tower to see people running. A pit formed in her stomach. An akuma. Why _now_?

\---

Marinette swung down from the tower, ran a few blocks over, and came upon a terrible, awful sight.

The akuma was male. Seven, no, eight feet tall. He wore a full suit of medieval, golden armor, minus the helm. He held a sword (was that a katana? That didn't match with his style of armor...) in one hand and a single, long stemmed red rose in the other. He was anything but skinny, and had an unkempt beard growing along his neck but no other facial hair. His eyes were black and beady and swiveled to face her. Atop his head sat a ratty, old... Fedora?

Oh man.

As much as she wanted to be alone, Marinette couldn’t help but think that a good fight and some bad puns from Cat Noir might at least keep her mind off things. And boy would he have some puns ready to throw at _this_  guy. She was just about to call her partner to come and help when she heard a familiar voice behind her sigh and say "Oh thank god. It's not her."

She turned to see Cat Noir looking relieved. "What?" She questioned, but he didn't seem to hear. He suddenly looked panic stricken. What was going on?

She was about to question him again when a deep, nasally voice rang out "Hello m'lady! Would you be ever so kind as to give me your Miraculous?"

She turned and stepped to the side just in time to dodge an armored hand reaching for her own. “Gross. No thanks, I’ll keep them.” She waited for the retort of "Who're you callin' _your_ lady? She's MINE!" From her leather clad partner, but it never came.

She turned again to see Cat Noir looking completely distracted. He seemed to be looking for something? Or maybe someone?

"FIRST _SHE_ REJECTS ME, AND NOW _YOU TOO_?" The nasally voice bellowed after her.

Huh. That seemed to be a popular theme today.

Realizing Cat would be no help she proceeded to fight the akuma on her own, dodging his horribly aimed sword attacks easily and ignoring his gross comments. But, as the fight went on she found that she actually _missed_ the puns. What was going on with her kitty today?

She finally was able to use her lucky charm to produce a small flashlight. She only had to think for a second before shining it in the akuma's beady black eyes. He wailed, reaching up to cover them, dropping his rose in the process. Before she could grab it, however, a clawed hand picked it up and snapped the stem in two.

A purple butterfly flew out and floated around the remains. Marinette captured the akuma in her yo-yo, cleansing it and releasing it to fly away.

She turned to see Cat facing the now confused victim. The man looked basically the same, only shorter and with no armor.

"Where am I? How could she _reject_ me like that? She even said we were _friends_! Why do they always just throw me into the friend zone? When I give them everything! That bitch doesn't deserve a nice guy like me!" Said the nasally voiced man, tugging at his fedora and pounding his fist against the ground.

"The friend zone isn't real." Said Cat, to Marinettes surprise. There was no humor in his voice. All she could hear was... Contempt? Anger? She couldn't tell. "Girls don't owe you anything just for being nice. And no guys are nice anyway. I would know..." He sneered, walking away from the enraged man, ignoring her. No fist bump, no bad pun. Nothing.

Marinette followed him. "What the hell was that?" She asked angrily, abandoning the man. "First you don't help out, then you insult the victim, and finally you say that you're not nice? What is wrong with you today? I know he was gross but it's still our duty to help him! And it’s also your duty to help me, not just come in when I’ve conveniently done all the work."

Adrien stopped walking, not turning to face her. "Sorry..." He said weakly. "It's been a... Rough day."

"Well cut it out. Not every day can be pansies and butterflies! That's no excuse for how you acted back there. I didn't even hear one pun!"

Adrien chuckled quietly at her last comment, but his expression turned to one of sadness quickly after.

"You're right." He said finally after a long pause. He turned, still avoiding her gaze. "I'm sorry. I, uh, got in a fight with one of my friends today. I thought that she had been akumatized. But it obviously wasn't her. But I still don't know where she is, and I was afraid she wasn't safe. I was trying to look for her. It's no excuse, you're right. I could have been putting her and others in even more danger by not helping. I just wasn't thinking clearly. I'm sorry."

Ladybug didn't respond right away. Adrien shuffled his feet, still not wanting to make eye contact.

But finally she said "It's ok. Just don't let it happen again. And don't ever say you're not a nice guy."

"If only you knew, my lady-" he said, finally looking up at her, but cut himself short when he saw her face. Her cheeks were red and he eyes were puffy. Had she been crying? "Ladybug, what’s wrong? Is everything ok?" He asked, reaching towards her completely worried.

"You're not the only one who's had a bad day, kitten." She said bitterly, just as her miraculous chimed, indicating that she only had two minutes of transformation left. "I have to go." She ran off before he could stop her.

His lady had been upset. And he hadn't helped her. That was the second time today that he let down someone he cared about. He clenched his fists in anger.

It wasn't long before his thoughts were back to Marinette and how mad he was at himself, this just adding fuel to the fire. He went the rest of the way home in his transformation, only releasing it when he was lying face-down on his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuckbois, amirite? They always seem to appear exactly when you don't want them to...
> 
> Also, I found this funny post today that I thought went well with the recent chapters:  
> http://ladybugs.co.vu/post/147914724497/not-all-men-youre-right-adrien-agreste-an
> 
> UPDATE: I just wanted to clarify because a few people seem to be confused (I guess I worded things weird);  
> At this point Plagg knows Marinette is LB but Adrien doesn't. Plagg hasn't told him yet because he thinks it will be funnier to watch Adrien try to figure it out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, I am LOVING how much you guys are hating on Adrien after the last chapter. My poor, poor idiot son...  
> Here's chapter 7, as promised!

-knock knock-

Alya hurried to answer the door. "Nino, did you forget somethi-"

She cut off. It wasn't Nino.

Marinette stood in her doorway looking absolutely terrible. She had clearly been crying, and her dress was completely wrinkled. Luckily, though, she didn't seem to be hurt at all.

"Oh Marinette," Alya said quietly, drawing her best friend into a deep hug. "I'm so sorry, this is all our fault... Nino and I, we just-"

"No." Was all Marinette said, slowly returning her friend's hug and leaning into her shoulder. "Sorry I didn't answer your calls..."

Marinette coming to her was all the appology she needed, so she responded "No, don't worry about that, girl! We just wanted to make sure you were safe! I know you wanted to be alone. Sorry for pushing so much... I know I can go overboard sometimes."

"It's fine, I know. Can I just go lay down?" She shrugged Alya off before she could answer and walked down the hall towards her room. 

Alya didn't know what to say, so she followed her friend and closed her bedroom door behind her.

Finally, she quietly suggested "You should talk to him. He never got to explain his side to you, Marinette."

"How? How can I even _face_ him, Alya?" Marinette snapped back, turning to look at her friend. But seeing the hurt in Alya's eyes just made her feel even worse. So she walked over to the bed and laid down.

Alya knew her friend enough not to press the issue right now. Marinette just needed some time. Time to think and time to calm down. Sometimes, you just needed to be upset about something for a while, and this something _certainly_ warranted her reaction.

"Do you want to stay over here tonight?" Alya asked, not wanting to continue forcing Marinette to talk about everything that had happened that day. She would decide what to do when she was ready. Alya knew she would talk to Adrien about this… eventually. But for now, she didn’t want her parents to be worried about her, and their daughter returning home looking like _this_ would be pretty bad, especially since they were all supposed to be having fun together right now.

Marinette just nodded, turning away to face Alya's wall.

"Do you wanna call your parents? To let them know?"

"Can't," mumbled Marinette into one of Alya’s pillows. "Lost my phone."

It wasn't lost. She knew _exactly_ where it was. It was left atop the Eifel tower. She had forgotten to get it back after the akuma fight because of her argument with Cat Noir. But there was no way she could explain _that_ to her suspicious, Ladybug-obsessed friend. She would just have to go and get it tomorrow.

"Ok, I'll call them." Said Alya, leaving the room.

She quickly called Marinette's parents, letting them know her daughter would be staying over. She lied and said her phone was dead and she didn't have a charger, so they could just contact her if they needed to. Marinette could decide later if she wanted to tell them about losing her phone, but she had enough on her mind right now and didn’t need to worry about that too. After she hung up, she texted Nino letting him know that Marinette was ok. She then swiped over to her chat with Adrien.

**Alya:** Marinette is ok. She came over here just after Nino left. She looks a wreck but she's not hurt physically or anything. I'll update you more later. For now you can call Nino if you need to.

Alya walked back into the room. Marinette had borrowed a pair of pajamas and changed into them, but was back to laying in her bed, facing the wall and clinging to her large Ladybug themed body pillow. Her dress was thrown in a pile on the floor, so Alya picked it up, smoothed out the skirt, and hung it in her closet so that it wouldn't get any more wrinkled. She walked over to her bed and sat down next to Marinette, noticing she had undone her pigtails. She just sat there, stroking her best friend's hair; something she had found out calmed Marinette down very quickly after they became friends. She didn’t talk any more, and just let her friend rest, because DAMN did she deserve it.

And the tears fell.

Marinette was quiet, but Alya could still tell.

She was _really_ going to kill that boy one of these days.

\---

Adrien's phone buzzed and he grabbed it off his bedside table immediately. It was a call from Alya.

He had gotten her message earlier and had responded with a simple "ok" but that was it. He never got a response back either, so he had just waited for most of the day. He hadn't called Nino either. There was nothing his friend could say right now to make things better, so he just didn't bother.

"Hello, Alya? Whats going on?" He said, looking to his clock to see the time was just after 8:30. He had skipped dinner, telling Nathalie he wasn't feeling well, and had been laying face-down on his bed the entire evening.

"She's ok. Shes sleeping now. I told her parents she was staying over."

"How is she doing? Were you able to talk to her? Can _I_ talk to her?"

"No, I'm not going to wake her, Adrien.” Uh oh. She sounded annoyed. “She needs to sleep. And she said she can't face you right now. I think it's best if you just let her come to you."

He knew this would happen, but that didn't make it any easier to hear. He sighed. The line was quiet for a minute but he finally asked the question he was dreading.

"How much did she cry?"

Silence.

"Alya..." He pleaded.

He heard his friend sigh on the other line. "That's probably what tired her out so quickly..."

His heart ached. He hated every fiber of his being, down to his very core. How could Ladybug insist he was a nice guy? After what he had done... Alya sure as hell would never forgive him, so why should Marinette?

"Ok, well take care of her." He choked out after a few minutes, ending the call without waiting for a response.

He sank back onto his bed, screaming into his hands. He finally let his own tears fall, heavily sobbing into his pillow.

Plagg floated above his boy, feeling bad. Now probably wasn't a good time to ask for cheese, he thought, so he floated up to Adrien's loft to give the kid some space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it's a bit short, but I will hopefully have chapter 8 ready and up sometime tomorrow!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 8!  
> I'm not going to have internet again this weekend, so I wont be able to post anything until maybe Sunday night, so I apologize in advance!

The next few days were hard.

On Sunday, Adrien had a 5 hour long photo shoot that Nathalie wouldn't let him miss “simply because he had stomach pain" (or so he lied in order to explain his odd behavior yesterday). His eyes were sore from crying for most of the night and because of his lack of sleep. He had only managed to drift off around 2:30am, and his alarm woke him at 6:00. The bright lights at the shoot were more painful than usual so he spent any downtime he had with his eyes closed.

His photographer had yelled at him when he first arrived because his face was so blotchy, but luckily makeup was able to fix that, and no one asked him why his usually spotless skin wasn't perfect today.

Things just refused to go smoothly though. Adrien just couldn't focus and almost every photo needed to be retaken. "What is wrong today, Mr. Agreste?" Asked the photographer, a hint of annoyance in his voice, after the first 5 shots took twice as long as expected. Adrien simply shrugged, saying “I’m just not feeling myself. I’m sorry.”

No matter how hard he tried to ignore all of the thoughts going through his mind, he just couldn't focus on modeling. The clothes weren't to his tastes and he couldn't bring himself to fake his usual peppy attitude. The 5 hour shoot wound up taking almost 8 hours by the time it had finally finished, and Adrien barely made it home by 5:00pm.

He wanted to just go back into his room and curl into a ball, but Nathalie was insisting that he have dinner. He had skipped breakfast to add to the lie about his stomach pain, and they hadn't wanted him to take a lunch break during the shoot because they had already lost so much time. He was in no mood to eat, but Nathalie was right; he was starving. In reality, he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast yesterday morning.

"Your father won't be home to join us," said Nathalie, "so you can take your food into your room with you." She could tell there was something wrong. Adrien was not very good at lying about being sick, and even on a bad day he was never this spacey at a modeling job. She felt some sort of sympathy for him, but didn't know how to help other than give him some space. "Being a teenager is never easy," she thought, leaving the boy alone in the hall.

Adrien walked to the kitchen, deciding he would make himself a sandwich. Luckily, the family chef was on break at the moment; he didn't want to bother him for something so simple, and he also didn't feel like explaining why he wanted to make it himself. He rummaged through the fridge to find everything he needed. He was looking to see what cheese they had when he noticed an unopened box of camembert sitting on the shelf. He had always asked the chef to keep it in stock and was glad he never have to explain his sudden fascination with the stinky cheese that he _actually_ hated. He went to push it aside but suddenly remembered Plagg. The tiny cat hadn't asked for cheese since yesterday morning either. Adrien knew the kwami had some stored in his loft somewhere (he could smell it sometimes) but it can't have been enough for two whole days! He grabbed the cheese, deciding he didn't want anything else for himself, and headed to his room.

"Is that camembert I smell?" Asked Plagg, zipping out of Adrien's bag as soon as he shut his door. "I'm starving!"

Adrien set his sandwich down on the table but held onto the cheese, wanting to talk to his kwami before giving it to him.

"You didn't ask me for cheese yesterday." He said, staring at Plagg.

The tiny cat simply floated in front of the boy, staring at the cheese, and said "I had some saved up."

"Yeah, but not that much. Why didn't you ask?" Adrien had guessed at the reason but wanted to actually hear Plagg say it.

"Maybe I just wasn't that hungry." The Kwami sneered, crossing his arms, slowly floating closer to his precious meal.

Adrien sighed. "That's a lie." He mumbled, but he decided he wasn't going to get a straight answer and gave up his questioning. He tossed the cheese at his annoying companion. "You can have the whole box."

"HOOOOOOO BOY!" Shouted the Kwami, quickly flying up to the loft with his treasure, ready to gorge himself. Adrien thought he heard a faint “I should be nice to you more often!” coming from above, but he couldn’t be sure.

Adrien looked after him, slightly disgusted, and sighed again. Plagg hadn't asked him for the cheese yesterday because he was so upset. It made him feel bad that he had neglected his friend, but at the same time he was happy. This was the first time all weekend that he actually began to feel a bit better, and knowing that the kindness came from _Plagg_ warmed his heart even more. Plagg was never nice, especially when it came to camembert; he must be in worse shape than he thought.

Adrien sat down on the couch and began to eat his sandwich. In between bites he checked his phone; no new messages.

He called Alya, hoping she'd have some good news for him.

"Hi Adrien," the red head said from the other end.

"Hey." Adrien said flatly, not knowing how to phrase the next thing he wanted to say. Luckily, Alya answered his questions before he could ask.

"Marinette went home a little while ago. She's still refusing to talk to me about it. Maybe tomorrow at least one of us will have better luck."

"Hopefully she'll even talk to me..." Adrien said, abandoning the rest of his sandwich. "Even if she hates me, I need to at least apologize. I'm such an idiot."

"Hey, you're a guy. 'Idiot' comes with the package. Of _course_ you’re going to be one, too. Models don’t get a special pass." Alya joked, trying to cheer him up even a little. She was mad at the guy, but she still wanted Marinette to be happy. Helping the two of them fix this mess was only fair, especially after everything her best friend had done for her.

"I really like her, Alya... I wish I could just go back and realize my feelings sooner." Adrien rubbed his eyes, wiping away the tears that were threatening to form again.

"I'm sure it will be ok once you explain things."

"But what if it's not?" Adrien said, running his hand through his hair.

"Listen," Alya said, her tone growing more serious. "Marinette is a good person. She will listen and she will understand. Luckily for you, she doesn’t hold grudges like yours truly. She’ll forgive you, she just needs some time to calm down I think. Everyone has crushes on celebrities, and sometimes it's hard to distinguish between a fan crush and a real crush. Even Marinette has a soft spot for Cat Noir, though I don't think she realizes it. Seriously, that girl is so into _you_ that she doesn't even notice how much she talks about that cat. Personally, I think Ladybug is MUCH better, but..."

Adrien didn't hear the last part of what Alya had said. So Marinette was a fan of Cat Noir. His lips grew into a small grin; the second time today he started to feel a bit better.

When Adrien didn't respond right away Alya repeated her last sentence. "Hello? Adrien? I said why don't you try talking to her at lunch tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah. I will, sorry. Yeah that's a good idea, seeing as she probably won't be there early enough in the morning. Thanks Alya." He said, saying a quick goodbye and hanging up the phone. He was going to talk to her; he wouldn't let her get away.

\---

Monday came and, like Adrien predicted, Marinette didn't arrive to school early. Actually, she didn't arrive on time either. Marinette was late a lot, so he patiently sat staring at the door waiting for her to arrive.

But when lunch rolled around and Marinette _still_ hadn't shown up, he was forced to accept that she wasn't coming.

"I don't know anything, she hasn't messaged me.” Said Alya when Adrien and Nino turned to ask her if she knew anything. “She lost her phone Saturday; I guess she wasn't able to find it. I'm going over there after school to see what's up."

"Then I'm going with you." Adrien said firmly. He had made up his mind that he was going to talk to her, and Marinette skipping school wasn't going to stop him.

"No you're not." Said Alya, a scowl appearing on her lips. "She said she couldn't face you, and she's obviously avoiding you. Going over there now is just going to make things worse. You've got to let _her_ make the decision, Adrien." Yeah, Alya was going to help her friends. But on _Marinette’s_ terms. She _absolutely_ wasn’t going to let Adrien bother her if she didn’t want to see him.

"But, Alya-"

"No. I'm sorry, but you're not coming with. I'll try to talk to her, ok?"

"It's probably better to just give her a bit of space, dude." Said Nino, placing his hand on his best friend's shoulder, trying to reassure him.

Adrien just nodded, turning away.

Later that day he got a message from Alya in their group chat with Nino.

 **Alya:** She's somehow managed to convince her parents she's got the flu. It looks like she plans on skipping all week.

 **Nino:** Shit... :/

 **Adrien:** Well, what do I do?

 **Alya:** I guess all you can do it wait.

 **Nino:** Yeah dude, I mean she can only miss school so many times before they kick her out lol

\---

Tuesday arrived, but Marinette didn't. She wasn't at school on Wednesday either.

Adrien was completely miserable. He hadn't paid any attention in class all week and his spacey attitude continued into his after school activities. Luckily, Nathalie hadn't told his father yet, but he was too upset to really care either way.

The worst part about this week (ok, second worst part behind Marinette literally avoiding him) was that he hadn't even been able to see Ladybug. He needed a distraction he enjoyed, and he would have gladly welcomed her company, but there had been no akuma attacks since Saturday. She also canceled their patrol Tuesday night because she said she wasn't feeling well.

It was now Thursday, and Marinette failed to show up to school again. She really was going to skip all week.

He was on his way home when Plagg poked his head out of his shirt pocket and whispered "Ladybug is calling you."

He couldn't answer in the car, so he asked the Gorilla to hurry, lying that he had to use the bathroom. Once the car had parked he ran to his room and shut the door.

"Plagg, claws out!" He said, a bright green flash of light engulfing him. Once he had fully transformed, he grabbed his baton and called Ladybug.

She answered pretty quickly, her face filling the screen. "Hey kitten. Did you miss me?"

"Of course, bugaboo!" He tried to say as normally as possible. He didn't want her to know what a wreck he was as of late.

"Patrol tonight?" She asked.

"Yes!" He nearly shouted, unable to hide his excitement. He would finally have someone other than Alya and Nino to talk to, and he could hopefully get this whole ordeal out of his mind for a little while.

"Alright, see you at 9." She said, ending the call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why I made Adrien so obsessed with sandwiches but here we are.  
> Maybe they're his favorite because as a "rich kid" he never gets to each such regular food lol
> 
> Also, lets be real. Alya would TOTALLY kick Adrien's ass into space if she didn't love Marinette so much :P


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello passengers of the Angst Train™, this is your conductor speaking once again. We've reached our final destination. Welcome to Angstville™. I hope you enjoy your visit!

Marinette climbed out of her trap door and onto her balcony. "Tikki, spots on!" She said, a burst of pink light transforming her into Ladybug. It was still only 8:30, but she wanted to get to the Eifel tower before Cat Noir; she hadn't been able to get her phone all week and needed to find it before he did. She didn't need him asking questions.

Plus, she had already canceled patrol on Tuesday. She had still been slightly annoyed at Cat for the way he acted on Saturday, and she was still not really in any mood to see any of her friends. Alya coming over after school Monday was bad enough, but she had been expecting that at least. Luckily, because of her phone being “lost” she was able to escape the thousands of texts she would normally have gotten; unluckily though, that meant Alya was calling her parents every day to “check up on her.”

But now, it had been so long since she had seen anyone other than her parents and Tikki. She technically could have canceled patrol again, but she needed to go outside to get some fresh air and stretch. If Cat decided to patrol without her and ended up seeing her, well that was just a can of worms she didn’t want to open. And either way, she was starting to miss him. She was no longer annoyed, especially after the second (very lengthy) apology he had given her when she called him Tuesday to cancel. She just needed to get out of her room. She had taken down the posters of… _him_... but she couldn’t make herself get rid of them, so they were sitting in the top right hand drawer of her desk. But, she had basically memorized each one exactly and her brain kept imagining they were still there whenever she would look around. So she needed to take a break. _And_ she needed to do something at least a little fun to take her mind off of everything. So patrolling with Cat and his dorky puns was admittedly the best solution.

She began her journey across Paris's rooftops, finally reaching the tower. She started her climb up, completely unaware that the leather clad feline had arrived there several minutes before, only to find a lost cellphone which looked eerily familiar but that he couldn't quite place.

She grabbed the edge of the top most level and pulled herself up to, somewhat unfortunately, be greeted by "A pink phone case, my lady? I pegged you more for a red and black type of girl."

She groaned, looking up to meet Cat Noir's cocky grin, lifting the rest of her body up onto the ledge.

"So are you going to explain how your phone wound up alllll the way up here, or am I supposed to believe that some fearless Parisian found our hiding spot?" He smirked, holding her phone out for her.

"I forgot it." She snapped at him, grabbing the phone from his hand. "And pink is an EXCELLENT color, thank you very much!"

"Hey, no need to get upset, bugaboo. When did you even leave it up here? Saturday? I thought you were sick, did you seriously not have your phone for all those days? What kind of teenager ARE you?" He joked, lazily placing his hands on his hips.

"Oh, uh, no. Uhhh...." Shit. "I-I came up here this morning to, uh, take some pictures. Yeah. Of the skyline, you know? At sunrise! But I was so tired I forgot to take my phone back with me." She quickly lied, laughing off her faked clumsiness.

"I would have never pegged you as being such a klutz, LB." laughed Adrien, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh, Kitten, you have no idea." She said, jumping off the tower to start patrol, escaping any further questions.

They jumped through Paris for a while, both of them quietly enjoying each other’s company. That is, until Adrien stopped on the roof of the building they had just landed on, causing Marinette to stop short as well.

"What's wrong?" She questioned, turning to face him.

Adrien had just wanted to have a peaceful evening; no more upsetting thoughts or feelings, no more difficult conversations with friends. There would be enough of that later. He had just wanted to escape reality for a bit and spend time with the person he felt the most comfortable with so that he could relax. But he simply couldn't shake the memory of seeing Ladybug's face the other day, red and swollen from crying. He was doing his best to get over her, but she was still his best friend and he couldn't help but be worried. For something to make the strong, brave Ladybug cry THAT much, it must have been bad.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked quietly. "From the other day?" He looked at her, hoping she wouldn't get angry.

"What? Oh yeah I uh, just had one of those stomach bugs, you know? Totally better now!" She said, laughing and waving her hand in front of her.

"That's not what I meant." He said sternly, taking a step towards her. "You were crying the other day. Before the akuma attacked."

Marinette's eyes widened. She didn't think he would remember that. And she couldn't very well tell him the real reason she was upset.

"Oh, yeah, that." She mumbled. "I was just, you know, upset about something stupid. Moody girl stuff." She lied, hoping he wouldn't press her. He just stared at her, his expression a bit... Was it sad? It seemed more than just sad, though. Like he was feeling several emotions at once and couldn't decide on just one. She had seen this expression on him before.

And then she remembered that he had been upset that day too. He had gotten in a fight with his friend or something like that. "I'm fine," she said, stepping closer to him as well, "but what about you? Did you ever find your friend? Was she ok? Did you make up?"

Damn. The one topic Adrien wanted to avoid, and she had to bring it up. To be fair, though, he had started this conversation. Maybe if he answered honestly she would drop it.

"Uh, yeah. She's ok. She's avoiding me though, but it’s my own fault. It's not a big deal." He said, turning away. He hoped Ladybug wouldn't keep questioning him; she usually didn't like to talk about personal stuff too often.

He looked up again to see her looking confused. "Why?" She questioned. "Why would you deserve being avoided?"

Shit.

"Listen, LB. I know you disagree, but let’s just say I'm not a nice guy and leave it at that, ok?"

"But you are a nice guy..." She said, quietly taking another step closer to him. "Why do you keep asying you’re not? You are nice to every one of our fans, you always stay and talk to them until the last minute. You always know just what to say to all of the akuma's victims. You're nice to me. I wouldn't consider you my best friend if you weren't a nice guy."

Her words both warmed his heart and stung; if only she knew what he had done, because of his own stupidity, she would change her mind.

"Nice guys don't exist, Ladybug." He said, bitterly.

"Yes they do. Nice people are everywhere, Cat." She retorted, getting a bit annoyed. "And you're one of them."

"No I'm not." He snapped back, more forcefully than he intended. "Name me 3 nice guys you know." He crossed his arms.

"Ok well, you," she said, ignoring his eye roll. "And my papa! He's the nicest person on the whole planet!"

"Ok. Every girl thinks their father is great, but that's still only one person. We already covered that I am a jerk, remember?"

"That is two, and you are most certainly not a jerk! Usually, anyway.” She scowled. What was up with him? “You aren't going to win this argument, kitten!" She said, growing more frustrated by the second.

Adrien groaned, rubbing his temples. "Ok, fine. Two." He said holding up two fingers. "But you still need one more. I asked for three."

Marinette was quiet for a minute. She had a third name in mind, but how could she say it without it being weird? She looked around and spotted her answer.

"Well, he seems really nice," she said sheepishly, pointing at something behind him.

He turned in the direction of her finger to find... Himself, on an add, modeling something from his father's line.

What?

Ladybug had no idea what she was saying. There was no way he could say that Adrien Agreste didn't count because 'by the way, he is me' but he knew for a fact that he was not a nice guy. Why would Ladybug even think that anyway? Because of the 'perfect son' act he was forced to put up whenever in public? Ladybug was just like Marinette; couldn't she tell what a boring drone he was? Why him?

"Why?" He growled, turning to face her, furrowing his eyebrows. "Because he's pretty? Because he smiles for the camera? You don't know him, Ladybug. He's a jerk and a loser and only does what his famous daddy asks of him. He’s probably extremely boring." He didn't care anymore if he got angry. This was ridiculous. Why couldn't they see?

"No he is not!" Snapped Marinette, angrily glaring at Cat Noir now. What was he saying? How could he say those things about someone he didn't even know? Yeah, she was still upset, but not with Adrien. It wasn't his fault that he didn't like her back; she didn't blame him. And she knew he had tried to reject her nicely, Alya had said he wanted to explain his side. It was her own fault for not listening to it. She was only avoiding talking to him because she had no idea what she was going to say; she wanted nothing more than to go back to being his friend.

But she could _never_ be mad at him. Adrien was the nicest person she had ever met! He cared for others above himself, he wasn't a snob, he didn't flaunt his father's money; he was selfless, and he just wanted to spend time with his friends. He was funny and sweet; how could anyone say that Adrien wasn't nice? Maybe Cat was just jealous of him for some reason? But why? He was a superhero; girls all throughout the city fawned over him. What more could a flirt like him want?

"Don't be jealous of him!" She shouted. "You have just as many fans as he does!"

"What?! I'm not jealous of that idiot!" He yelled, glaring at his Lady for the first time ever. How could she think he was JEALOUS? (Jealous of HIMSELF he might add.)

"He's not an idiot!" She screeched, clenching her fists.

"He definitely is! You don't know him, Ladybug!"

"Oh and YOU do?!"

"I-I, uh..." Shit. Now what? "We're, uh... We're friends." He lied, sheepishly, glancing at the ground.

"Well if you're his ' _friend_ '," she said, preforming air quotes around the word 'friend', "then you would know he's _not_ an idiot, and he's _not_ a jerk, and he's most certainly _not_ boring!" She was now bright red and seething with rage. Why was she so mad about this? Did she have a crush on Adrien too?

His mind was a mess; his lady liked him too? But not 'him'. She liked the model. But that WAS him. So he was fighting for her against... himself? But no, because she didn’t know the “real” Adrien. But that shouldn’t even matter because he was supposed to be getting over her! Not fighting for her! But she liked him. But she didn't know it was him. And she obviously didn't like Cat Noir. Which was the “real” Adrien. So now he would be breaking Ladybugs heart? But he had already broken Marinette's heart. And he also liked Marinette. But she was angry at him. And now Lady was angry at him too. Everyone was angry at him and literally all of this was his own fault. He hated himself more than ever before.

He just stood there for several minutes, all of these thoughts and more racing through his mind. Ladybug was still glaring at him, her fists clenched, breathing heavily. She looked like she wanted to cry. He was completely overwhelmed and didn't know what to do.

"Why..." He finally croaked out, falling to his knees. "Why does everyone like him?" His head fell into his hands.

"He's stupid! He's a jerk and he's stupid!” He was rambling, but he couldn’t control what was coming out of his mouth anymore. His feelings were escaping; rebelling from being held in for so long. “He's boring and only does what his father wants him to do! He can never think for himself! He's a jerk and an idiot and he's _not nice_ Ladybug!" His tears finally started to fall. "I'm not nice..." He cried, abandoning his ruse. He didn't care anymore. About anything.

"I'm a jerk. I broke Marinette's heart! Because of my own _stupid_ feelings for _stupid_ you! Which didn't matter anyway, because you didn't like me! And because I was too _stupid_ to realize my own feelings for her! But now she won't even talk to me, or anyone! And now you had to go and make everything so much harder! How am I supposed to get over you when you like me too?! But none of that even matters because now you probably hate me too!" He was sobbing harder than ever into his hands. "Claws in" he whispered, a flash of green transforming him back into his civilian self. "And now I'm crazy about a girl who won't even come to school because she can't face me because I broke her heart!" He choked out.

He heard a small gasp come from Ladybug's direction, but he refused to look up. He didn't want to see her reaction to finding out that _he_ was her partner; her Cat Noir. He expected her to leave; to be so disappointed that she never wanted to speak to him again.

"A-adrien?" He heard her ask, timidly.

He didn't respond right away, trying to calm himself down. He finally stopped crying and wiped his eyes, still not removing his hands from his face. She wasn’t running? But why?

"I'm a jerk, Ladybug." He whispered.

Silence.

But then, finally... "Y-you... You like Marinette?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"What does it matter?" He grumbled "She won't talk to me because I rejected her. I didn't realize how much I care about her until it was too late and now she hates me. It’s all my own fault!"

"I-I don't think she hates you..." Whispered ladybug. He could hear her shuffling her feet as if she was trying to decide what to say next, but then she whispered something else he couldn't hear. He thought he could see a bright light flash through his hands as he felt ladybug kneel down in front of him, her hand slowly coming to rest on his shoulder. He finally took his hands away to look at his lady's knees.

But they weren't his lady's knees.

He recognized those pink capris.

He suddenly remembered where he recognized that pink phone case from.

He slowly looked up, his heart racing. His eyes finally met two big, beautiful blue eyes that he definitely recognized now. Both with and without the mask.

"Marinette?" He breathed, barely audibly.

"I guess we're the same." She giggled, taking her hand off his shoulder and placing it in her lap. "We're both really bad at knowing who we have a crush on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry passengers, I misspoke just then. Did I say Angstville? Because I meant Fluff City. <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a few days; I've been pretty busy. But here you go!

"How..." Adrien whispered, his expression indiscernible.

"I-I'm sorry." Marinette stammered, suddenly worried. Was this too much? He must be thinking so many things right now; their identities, their feelings towards each other, his feelings about himself... Maybe she shouldn't have revealed herself too. When he transformed she was shocked. At first she didn't know what to think. Flirty, cocky, _dorky_ Cat Noir- _her_ Cat Noir- was also cool, funny, admittedly also somewhat dorky Adrien? It made no sense!

But it also completely made sense. They were exactly the same. Only, the son of world famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste probably couldn't completely be himself in public; he had to keep up appearances. He had only just begun opening up with her, Nino, and Alya. But he was just as dorky as Cat, and he even threw out a bad pun or two when they were all joking around together. He was her Kitten, and knowing that just made her love him even more.

But she had constantly been rejecting Cat... For himself. She had always wondered if her feelings for him would be different if she had never met Adrien, but now she knew that didn't matter. Adrien had only rejected _her_ for that exact same reason.

And he also liked her as Marinette? She could hardly believe it! But now Adrien was a mess because of all of these conflicting feelings. She finally understood. Cat had never given up on her. He had never hated her because she didn’t feel the same towards him. He never treated her any differently no matter how many times she blew off his advances. He loved her, and he never pressured her to love him back. And now it was because of her – Ladybug and Marinette – that Adrien was feeling this way. She had to show him that it was okay; to make things better for the both of them. She couldn’t keep running away.

So she revealed herself too. But maybe that wasn't the right choice. She had been happy to find out Adrien and Cat Noir were one in the same; but maybe Adrien didn't feel the same way?

"I'm sorry that I'm not what you expected." She looked down, wanting to run again. But she couldn't. They needed to talk. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

He simply nodded his head no, looking as if he wanted to argue with her, but he couldn't speak. Maybe he was ok with this? He had feelings for her, with the mask on and now without it too? But no, she couldn't think about that. Her feelings weren't what mattered right now; Adrien's were. She could deal with their identities later.

"All that stuff you said, about... Yourself. Why do you think that?" She questioned, looking back up at him.

His mouth curled into a scowl. "Because it's true, Marinette." He finally spoke. "I hurt you so much..." He looked away, tears lining his eyes once again.

"That's not your fault though," she rushed to say, shaking her hands in front of her. "Yeah, it hurt, but it was no one’s fault. People can't control who they have feelings for. A-and you just said, it was because you liked Ladybug. O-or w-well..." She stammered, her face turning red. "E-either way," she rushed, avoiding the topic she was about to bring up. "You tried to explain things to me and I didn't want to listen. That's my fault. I don't know how to deal with things; I was the one running away. Adrien, you are the nicest person I've ever met. Other people wouldn't try this hard to talk to someone who was avoiding them; they wouldn't be this broken up about it. You're not a jerk." She said calmly, slowly grabbing his hand. "You're not a jerk at all. You cared more about my feelings than your own. And you constantly do things for Nino and Alya and everyone else in class. You're even nice to Chloe! Sometimes when she doesn't deserve it, because she almost never does. You're completely selfless, Adrien. You stood up for me last week when Chloe was being rude and I never thanked you for it. But it means so much that you would stand up to one of your own friends just because of a rude comment. And like I said earlier, you're always kind as Cat Noir as well." She said, her cheeks flushing as she mentioned him being Cat.

"And you're not an idiot! No way! You're basically at the top of our class! You do what your father asks of you because you're responsible, not because you’re a 'drone' or for any other reason. And you're absolutely _not_ boring!" He finally looked up at her. She reached up with her free hand, placing it on his cheek and wiping the tears from his eyes as she gripped his hand more tightly. "You're the opposite of boring, Kitten." She said quietly, hoping he would understand. "Me, Nino, and Alya, we all hang out with you because you're fun to be with. Even as Cat you've always, _always_ been my best friend. From the very beginning.” She honestly meant it. She needed Cat Noir more than anyone else; he was the most important person to her. She had to convey to him that he wasn’t the negative person he thought he was.

“Also, boring people aren't so funny." She said, trying to stroke his cocky ego, smirking up at him. "And I wouldn't..." Her face grew red again, and she began to lose her cool. She removed her hand from his face and stammered "If y-you were any of those things I wouldn't... Uh... F-feel... About y-you..." She trailed off.

" _PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!_ " She shouted, her embarrassment bringing her to her breaking point.

Adrien was speechless. Marinette really felt that way? About _him_?

His Lady had always felt the same way about him as he felt about her, they just didn’t know it. Could she really think that highly of him? He knew Marinette was extremely kind and could never think badly about anyone (well, _almost_ never, but Chloe – and Hawkmoth - could be exceptions). But he _never_ expected she, or anyone else for that matter, could feel that strongly towards him. She really did like him for _himself._ Not for the fake, perfect, model persona he was forced to put on. But for who he _really_ was. She had accepted him as Cat Noir almost immediately. She didn’t even think twice.

His body felt light, as if he could just float away. All of his insecurities felt meaningless now. Everything he had been carrying around with him over the past few days, every negative feeling, every horrible thought, they were all gone. He stared deeply into her beautiful blue eyes. Her face was bright red, her mouth twisted into a hilariously embarrassed expression.

She really _was_ adorable.

He couldn't believe that he ever thought he wasn't in love with her.

He gripped her hand back, just as tightly as she was, wiping away the rest of his tears. He finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, Marinette. For all of this. I-"

"No." She said, cutting him off. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one at fault here. I'm sorry for avoiding you… I just didn't know what to do and I wanted to clear my head before coming to talk to you. It’s already hard enough for me to be around you without making a total fool of myself I was just so embarrassed… I'm sorry..."

"But I-"

"Adrien! You don't have to apologize! You had a perfectly good reason for not responding to my feelings. O-or, uhh..." Her face grew even redder, her eyes looking anywhere but at him.

And he suddenly remembered what he had just confessed to her. All of his feelings, towards her and towards Ladybug. He had basically told her everything. His entire body felt hot. He turned even redder than she was, a strange shriek-like groan escaping from his wide open mouth.

He let go of her hand and stood up faster than he thought possible, his arms flailing randomly at his sides, not really making any coherent gestures. He looked down at her, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, but no sound came out.

She stood slowly, standing to face him, still beet red. She finally looked into his eyes, playing with her own hands in front of her. He made the same shrieking noise again, completely unable to form words.

But then he met her gaze, sinking into her beautiful eyes that were slowly becoming his favorite part about her.

She grew worried after his uncharacteristically flustered reaction. Had she been right? Had all of this been too much? She started to apologize “I-I, um, we don’t have to, uh, talk about t-this right now, s-sorry for-“

"NO!” he practically shrieked, cutting her off. “I... About you… Uh, I-I, um. I mean... And you? And L-ladybug! I just-" He was floundering, not making any sense. He slowed his breathing, trying to calm himself. They just stood there in silence for a few minutes, staring into each other’s eyes, both completely unable to say or do anything else.

After what seemed like forever Adrien finally said "I like you, Marinette. So much. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it... And I've liked Ladybug for a really long time. Or well... You I guess." He said the last part quietly, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly.

"M-me too!" She squeaked, her eyes growing wider. "I-I like you too! And Cat Noir! I didn't notice because of you... or, because of my feelings for Adrien. You. But I realize now that I probably always had feelings for Cat too. We're the same!"

They both just stood there, staring at each other, the exact same bright shade of red. Finally, Marinette broke the silence.

"Maybe we're both idiots." She said, giggling lightly.

Adrien grabbed her hand again, laughing along with her. "Hey, I’m not an idiot! But I was right, bugaboo," he said, smiling wide and winking at her. "We  _were_ made for each other."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, do you all remember in Origins pt. 2, when Ladybug says Mylène and Ivan are made for each other? And Cat Noir says the same about himself and Ladybug? Because I do.  
> Also: Shy, embarrassed, rambling, high-pitched, squeaky Adrien = good shit 8)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to post this yet, but I can't sleep so here you go! <3

Neither Adrien nor Marinette wanted to leave just yet, and they didn't feel like finishing patrol either, so they sat on the roof together, admiring Paris's skyline hand in hand. They didn't say much else, just silently enjoying each others company. Marinette eventually laid her head to rest on Adrien's shoulder making the both of them blush.

Adrien smiled to himself. This was amazing. He wanted to stay like this for the rest of his life; Marinette was so warm, and her hand was so soft. He couldn't remember a time when he had felt so comfortable. But sudenly a thought struck him. He really should tell Marinette. 

He turned to look at her and she lifter her head to look back at him, interested in what he was about to say. "What are we going to tell Alya and Nino?" He asked, looking a bit worried.

"What do you mean?" Marinette questioned.

"Well, they know we didn't talk at school today because you weren't there, Ms. I-have-the-flu." He smirked, enjoying the faked irritated expression, which he had gotten so used to seeing on Ladybug, now on Marinette's face. "And Alya told me not to try and contact you. We can't exactly just go in tomorrow and say 'We talked it out last night on top of a building at 10:30pm and now we're dating. By the way, did we mention that we're Cat Noir and Ladybug?'"

"No, you're right, we can't- WAIT, WE'RE DATING?!" Squeaked Marinette, turning bright red yet again as she realized what Adrien had said.

"A-are we not?" Stammered Adrien, looking slightly worried again. Was he wrong? Did he maybe missunderstand somehow?

"N-no! W-wait, I m-mean yes? I-I don't! W-we didn't! I don't k-know!" Marinette stuttered, her voice getting more high pitched with every word.

Adrien burst out laughing, causing Marinette to ramble even more. She really was just so...

"Cute." He said simply, ruffling her hair.

She squeaked again, her eyes growing wide, causing Adrien to laugh even more. Flustered Marinette. He could get used to this. He took a minute to calm his giggles. "Marinette," he said softly, squeezing her hand tightly. "It would make me the happiest cat in the world if you said yes to being my girlfriend."

"YES!" She said almost immediately, still as red as a tomato. "I-It would make me the happiest bug in the world too!"

Adrien smiled wider than he had smiled in days. They both laughed together, honestly and truly happy for the first time since Saturday. He leaned his forehead against hers as he said, "Well then that works out _purr_ -fectly, my Lady!"

"Oh well that was _suuuper lame_. Totally killed the mood. Can we come out now? I'm soooo bored and I haven't eaten anything in  _hours_." Whined a tiny voice behind them.

The two heroes turned around to see a tiny, floating, black cat being scolded by a tiny, floating, red bug.

"SHH PLAGG! I TOLD YOU TO STAY QUIET! YOU ARE SUCH A JERK!" Shouted the tiny bug as she lightly slapped the tiny cats arm.

They had both completely forgotten about their kwamis.

"Ow! Why hit me? I played nice for _so_ long! They're so boring, just revealing everything like that. I've been keeping this girl's identity secret for almost a _month_  and that's all I get? Neither of them even figured it out!" Whined Plagg again, crossing his arms.

"PLAGG, YOU KNEW AND YOU DIDN'T _TELL_  ME?!" Adrien bellowed angrily, grabbing his kwami out of the air. He knew? Could all of this really been avoided but _Plagg didn't tell him_?! He could have been dating Marinette, his Lady, _weeks_  ago! And he never would have made her cry, not even once! "I can't _believe_  you! You total jerk!" How could he have ever thought Plagg could be nice? He should've expected something like this.

"What? I thought you figuring it out would have been at least a _little_  funny!" Grumbled the tiny cat.

"You brat! I'm so sorry about him," Adrien said, turning to face Marinette who looked like she was about to burst out laughing at any minute. "He's Plagg, my kwami. He's the worst. I might legitimately kill him. None of this would have even happened..."

"No that's, um..." She giggled, trying to hold back her laughter. "He's cute. Please don't hurt him."

"But Marinette we could have-"

"I know, but it's fine, theres nothing we can do about it now. And if you hurt him I'll lose my Cat Noir." She said, blushing and glancing at the ground.

Adrien blushed as well and just sat staring at her with a completely dopey look on his face. Marinette really was practically an angel.

She glanced up again and had to hold back her laughter once more after seeing his expression. "Plus, if you're making _that_  face now, it probably _would_  have been pretty funny to see you find out that I'm Ladybug under different circumstances." She finally giggled, poking his cheek.

"See, even she agrees! And she said I'm cute! She just thinks _you're_  funny looking." Sneered Plagg, causing Marinette to laugh even more.

Ok. So maybe she wasn't totally an angel. Anyone who got along _that_  well with Plagg had to be at least part devil.

"Oh, shut up the both of you," he mumbled, half angrily, half trying to fight back his own laughter.

"But, uh, Plagg?" Marinette asked, calming down a little more. "Can I ask you, how did you know?" She questioned, looking at the kwami.

"I saw Tikki flying into your locker once. Haha, you're too clumsy!" He chided, pointing at the tiny bug.

"No, you're just nosy." Tikki said calmly, ignoring his teasing, causing Plagg to grumble silently into Adrien's fist. She floated over to the boys face positively beaming. "Hello, I'm Tikki! It's so nice to finally meet you, Adrien. Marinette has told me so much about you. Plagg picked an excellent Cat Noir this time around." She said smiling happily at him. "Ohhh and I'm so glad it's _you_! If I had known, I would have told Marinette right away!"

"Hello to you too, Tikki." Adrien said, scratching her head with his finger. "Boy, you're so much sweeter than Plagg. Marinette is lucky." He smirked eyeing his new girlfriend. (GIRLFRIEND! MARINETTE WAS HIS GIRLFRIEND!!! Oh man, he would never get tired of saying that...)

Marinette laughed, hugging her little friend against her cheek as she floated back to her. "Tikki is the best, but only if you have plenty of cookies to give her." She teased, Tikki landing to sit on her shoulder.

"That's lucky too! All this fool wants to eat is smelly, gross camembert!!" Adrien whined.

"Did you say camembert?" The black Kwami chimed in. "Because I'm starving!"

\---

The four talked for a little while longer but after a while they finally decided to head home. It was getting late, and they still had to get up for school in the morning. Adrien decided to accompany Marinette back to her room before heading home himself. They transformed together (though Adrien watched because _HOLY SHIT_ she really _was_  Ladybug!) and leaped through Paris, eventually landing on Marinette's balcony.

"Thank you for bringing me back." She said, turning to face him.

"You're welcome, bugaboo. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't walk my girlfriend home?" He crooned, winking at her.

Marinette blushed under her mask as he said 'boyfriend' and she silently squeaked as he said 'girlfriend.' It was odd to see ladybug so flustered but, just like with her as Marinette, he liked it. He made a mental note to say those two words as often as possible.

"I'll call Alya once I'm inside and tell her that I went over to talk to you." She said, staring up at him.

He returned her gaze and said "Good plan. Hopefully she doesn't get suspicious."

Marinette giggled but her expression quickly turned worried. "Um, Cat- I mean Adrien?" She questioned, still not used to seeing him in the mask. Because boy could she _really_ tell it was him now. How had she never noticed?! Who was that dense? Her and Adrien both, apparently.

He tilted his head indicating for her to continue. "Do you mind if we don't really tell anyone about us yet? Beside Alya and Nino I mean."

"Yeah of course." He nodded. "Is it because of Chloe?" To be fair he didn't really want to deal with her right now either. She was his friend, but that was a tree he didn't really want to bark up. He never took her crush too seriously, but there was no telling how she would react to finding out that he was not only dating someone, but that it was also one of her least favorite people.

"A little. I sort of want to just enjoy this for a little bit. To keep you all to myself." She mumbled, her face turning red again.

He simply stared at her for a few seconds, completely in awe. Marinette really did like him.. He was so stupid. He totally didn't deserve her, even a little. He must be the luckiest guy in the city.

They just stared at eachother for a while, but finally he broke the silence.

"Marinette?" He asked, his cheeks burning. "C-can I hug you?"

She quickly looked up at him, her eyes wide. And without answering she flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly and burying her face in his chest. He stumbled backwards a bit and had to steady himself from the impact, but he quickly grabbed her back, hugging as tightly as she was. She was small, but so warm. It was as if she fit perfectly into his arms, a feeling he found that he loved. He rested his head in the crook of her neck and noticed how good she smelled. Like vanilla and strawberries, and a warm bakery with freshly baked everything. He never wanted to let go.

But, she pulled away almost as quickly as she had hugged him and ran towards her trap door. "I should go in!" She squeaked.

Adrien was about to protest and grab her wrist when he saw how positively crimson her face had become, and he understood.

"Good night, my lady." He said as she reached down to open her trap door.

"G-good night, Kitty cat!" She squeaked again, making eye contact with him one last time. "S-see you tomorrow!" And she dropped down into her room. However, she popped her head up again to quickly say "And tell Plagg I don't think you're funny looking!" And she closed the door behind her.

Adrien sighed deeply. His legs felt like they were made of jell-o and his body felt like it was floating.

He finally reached for his baton and began his trip home. He leaped across the rooftops of Paris, holding back his excited cheers. If it wasn't so late, he would be making the most joy-filled ruckus imaginable. 

He was simultaneously dating the cutest person in all of Paris (quite possibly the _world_ ) and the strongest, bravest superhero of all time. His two favorite people. No; his favorite person. The actual love of his life, who he had been dreaming about for so long. The girl he had fallen head over heels for; twice.

He couldn't be happier if he tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Hope you guys like this! Thanks again for all of your wonderful comments, the kudos, and the bookmarks! <3 It really is so amazing to me to think that someone could like my writing this much, you guys are honestly the best.  
> I wont have internet again for this weekend so I'll try to post chapter 12 on Sunday night or Monday!
> 
> P.S. I just wanted to point out that this story takes place after most of season one, but I'm excluding everything that happened in the Volpina episode. I really don't want to deal with that book or the other miraculous's/wielders, so yeah, pretend that didn't happen lol. I'm going to start introducing more plot in the next few chapters, so don't worry! The reveal wasn't the end!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I've been really stressed irl with a lot of things at the moment. Also, I know where I want the story to go from here but it's been a bit hard for me to actually make the words do the thing. So, hopefully I get out of this rut soon.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

As soon as Marinette closed the trapdoor she released her transformation and fell face-first onto her pillow, giggling like crazy.

“Oh my gosh, Marinette, oh my _gosh!_ ” sang Tikki, flying over to her friend and landing next to her head. “This is great! This is wonderful! This is-“

“This is the best thing _ever_!!!” Marinette cheered, rolling over to grab her kwami and pull her into a tight hug. The two continued to laugh and celebrate for a few minutes, but eventually they had to settle down. Marinette had to call Alya before it was too late, or there could be trouble. Adrien was definitely going to call Nino, and if Alya found out anything from him before she heard it from Marinette, well, that _wouldn’t_ be good.

She climbed down from her bed and plugged in her phone to charge next to her computer for a few minutes so that it would turn on again. She then grabbed her pajamas and headed downstairs to use the bathroom and get ready for bed.

Luckily, her parents were already asleep, having gone to bed several hours earlier after a long day at the bakery. She walked into the bathroom, debating to herself if she should take a shower or not. To be fair, she had taken a bath that morning because her mom was making a fuss about her ‘flu,’ but she had gone on patrol and it had been a bit hot that day so she had gotten a little sweaty. But she wanted to talk to Alya. Also, _Adrien had hugged her!_ She squealed to herself just thinking about it again; she never wanted to bathe for the rest of her life, even if the hug _had_ only been through their suits.

But, she decided it would be worse if she didn’t shower, because the thought of Adrien seeing her (or smelling her) in any condition other than pristine was horrifying. So she quickly got undressed and showered, quietly humming to herself the entire time. She managed to finish super quickly, so she dried off and put her pajamas on and blow-dried her hair so that she wouldn’t risk _actually_ getting sick by going to bed with it still wet. She was about to brush her teeth when she decided she was a bit hungry from leaping through Paris earlier, so she left the bathroom to grab a snack before bed.

She went into the fridge and got herself a glass of milk and nabbed some chocolate chip cookies from the family “leftover baked goods” stash; when things didn’t sell in the bakery, her parents brought them upstairs because they could _never_ waste food, and they couldn’t sell things that weren’t baked fresh that day, so there was always good snacks around the Dupain-Cheng household. To be honest, it was a miracle that Marinette didn’t weigh a million pounds by now! She took a few extra cookies for Tikki, and placed them all on a plate to bring upstairs.

Finally ready, she climbed the ladder into her bedroom carrying her snack and dirty clothes with her, calling for Tikki to come help her eat the cookies. She placed them and the milk on her desk and threw her clothes in her dirty clothes hamper – or, well, in a pile _next_ to the dirty clothes hamper. She could pick them up later.

She checked to see if her phone had charged enough, which it had, and turned it on. She received a few late text messages, all from some of her classmates asking how she was feeling and sending her get well wishes. There was nothing from Alya or Nino, but they knew she didn’t have a phone. Or anything from Adrien, but he probably also knew. And actually, Marinette wasn’t even sure if he had her number! She had his from the time Alya had given it to her, but she hadn’t dared use it after that horrific incident. Whenever they hung out, Alya or Nino always texted the two of them separately, so he probably didn’t have hers. She would have to give it to him tomorrow; she was way too embarrassed to text him tonight.

After eating two of the cookies and leaving the rest for Tikki to munch on, Marinette swiped to her chat with Alya. It was almost midnight now, but Alya was usually always up late writing posts for the Ladyblog.

 **Marinette:** Hi Alya! Are you still awake?

She only had to wait a few seconds for her phone to buzz with a response.

 **Alya:** Girl, you found your phone??? Or is this some weirdo texting me?

 **Marinette:** No it’s me lol. Someone luckily found my phone! I must have dropped it somewhere on Saturday, but lucky for smart and totally-not-super-klutzy me, I wrote the bakery’s address inside my case a while ago, juuuust in case!

Though the phone wasn’t _actually_ lost, she _had_ written her address inside of her phone case a few months ago after she had left her phone in her locker one night and freaked out, so Marinette was glad she didn’t have to _totally_ lie to her best friend.

 **Alya:** You’re too smart to be such an airhead lmao

 **Alya:** Oh, and yes I’m still up. Writing a new post for the Ladyblog! My newest theory on who LB is!

 **Marinette:** Ooooooo can I know what you’re thinking this time? :P

 **Alya:** You can… after you read my post tomorrow ;)!

 **Marinette:** Awww no hints even for your bestie?

 **Alya:** Nope! But hey, how’re you feeling? You haven’t exactly been keeping in touch you know :( I’m worried about you, girl!

 **Marinette:** I know, I’m sorry. If I had my phone it would have been better :(

 **Marinette:** But actually…

 **Marinette:** Can I call you for a bit?

There was no response, just an immediate phone call from Alya’s contact. She answered.

“Hi Alya.”

“Hey Mari, what’s wrong? If you’re ready to talk I’m all ears.” Said Alya, concern evident in her voice. She was clearly super worried about her friend, and had probably been dying to talk with her about it.

“Ok well, I’m feeling a bit better. Actually, a lot better.” Marinette wanted to tell her everything, or well, everything short of the fact that she and Adrien were Paris’s famous superhero duo, and he had been crushing on her as Cat for months now, but she wanted to have a bit of fun first.

“Ok well that’s good! I knew you just needed some time.” Alya paused for a second before adding “So, are you going to talk to Adrien?”

“Well, you see,” Marinette started, trying to sound as normal as possible. “I was just really embarrassed. I know he wanted to talk to me more, but I just needed to be alone. I’m sorry again for ignoring all of you guys and skipping school. But I just couldn’t do it, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. You don’t have to justify anything to me, so don’t you worry!”

“Thank you.” Alya really was the best. “But I feel really bad that I ignored Adrien. It’s not his fault that he doesn’t feel the same way about me, I was just scared. I still don’t know if I can face him.”

“Well, Marinette, I really think you should talk to him about this. It might make things better.” Alya totally knew about Adrien’s true feelings which made this even funnier.

And now for the pièce de résistance. “I don’t know Alya. I just don’t know if _I_ feel the same way. Recently I just can’t stop thinking about _Cat Noir_.”

Silence.

“What did you just say, girl?”

Marinette burst out laughing. Alya’s completely confused reaction was everything she’s hoped it would be.

“What the hell is going on?!” Shouted Alya over her friend’s howls of laughter.

Marinette just laughed even harder, causing Alya to become more and more frustrated. After a while, though, she finally calmed down enough to explain herself.

“I’m sorry, I had to. That was just too funny. Payback for making me confess my feelings or something.” She said, wiping the tears of laughter away from her eyes.

“Yeah, HAHA, very funny.” Huffed Alya on the other line. Marinette couldn’t see her, but she could tell her best friend was crossing her arms.

“Ok, ok, sorry! No more teasing. So, what really happened issssss… I talked to Adrien.”

“What? When?” All of the anger suddenly vanished from Alya’s voice.

“Just a little while ago. I was actually leaving just as my parents came upstairs from cleaning the bakery for the night, and that’s when they gave me my phone. Otherwise I would have called you first, but it was totally dead. I had to leave it here to charge it, and I couldn’t exactly wait for it because I told them I would be going over to your place to work on some of the homework I’ve missed. Which, by the way, if you could share your notes I would love you sooooo much forever and ever!” She didn’t like to lie to her friends, but this was necessary. She would find a way to pay back Alya one day for all the lies she had to tell. Even if Alya never found out.

“You expect _my_ notes after you do something like this without _telling_ me first?!” Alya stated, feigning anger.

“Pleaseeeeee?” Marinette begged, playfully.

“OK. I will _think_ about it if you bring me a fresh batch of peanut butter cookies tomorrow! And none for Nino!” Alya laughed, knowing she would give Marinette her notes and her friend would bring her the cookies regardless.

“Deal.” To be honest, Marinette loved peanut butter cookies almost as much as Alya, and so did Tikki. Plus, Marinette’s parents knew Alya liked to use them as a bargaining chip for helping Marinette out with school work, so they always had some freshly made for her to share with her friends.

“Ok, so you went to his house then? What happened?” Alya was trying to hide her excitement, just in case.

“Well… we talked… about some things… anddddd….” Marinette paused, silently snickering to herself. Alya groaned loudly, and Marinette decided she had waited long enough. “And now we are-“

Alya shrieked before Marinette could even finish. She was so over the moon excited and didn’t care if she woke her whole family up, or all of Paris for that matter.

“YES! I _KNEW IT!_ ” she cheered, happily dancing around her room.

“Alya.” Marinette tried to no avail. “Helloooooo, Alya! You didn’t even let me finish! ALYA!”

Finally her friend stopped cheering and dancing to respond, “What?”

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“But you guys are-“

“Alya, if you don’t let me finish what I’m saying you could have the story wrong.” Marinette said, trying to stifle her giggles.

“So you’re not?” Alya sounded like she wanted to cry. Could she have just made Marinette upset again by wrongly guessing what had happened between her and Adrien? Maybe they had agreed to be just friends? She had feared the model would back out, but could it have actually happened?

“Well if you had let me finish, like a normal person, I would have been able to tell you!” Marinette said, finally allowing herself to smile wide.

“Ok, sorry. I was just excited. Please finish telling me.” Alya said, completely defeated and worried she made her friend upset.

“Well, Adrien and I talked about a lot of things. He told me about his crush on Ladybug, which honestly was not surprising. I mean Ladybug _is_ great after all.” Marinette said, trying to hide her tone of sarcasm. “But then he also told me about his feelings for someone else.” Marinette could hear Alya breathing heavily on the other line. She had to stifle her laughter one last time in order to say, “And now he and that someone else are, in fact, in real life, in the real live world, right here in Paris, France… _dating_!”

Again, the screaming was so loud that Marinette had to pull the phone away from her ear. “I KNEW IT! MARINETTE YOU TOTAL JERK, I WAS RIGHT! YOU BITCH! I LOVE YOU, BUT OH MY GOD!” Marinette finally burst out laughing as Alya kept screaming half excited, half rude things at her. She giggled along with her best friend, excitedly yelling how amazing this all was.

Finally, when the two had settled down, Alya more calmly said, “I knew it Marinette. Girl, I am _so_ freaking happy for you! You deserve this so much!”

“Thanks Alya. I’m so happy that it feels like I’m dreaming, and I’m scared to wake up. Now it feels like last week was just a bad hair day or something in comparison.”

“Good. I’m still gunna whoop that boys ass though. If he even puts _one toe_ out of line…” Alya made a sound with her mouth, as if she was dragging her finger across her neck to symbolize Adrien’s head getting chopped off.

Marinette laughed. “I know. Boys are dumb.”

“Tell me about it.” Alya said, clearly rolling her eyes on the other line.

The two joked a little while longer, allowing Marinette to finally fall into her thoughts about everything that had happened earlier. Adrien was Cat Noir. Adrien was her _boyfriend._

_Cat Noir was her boyfriend!_

Suddenly, Marinette could see it. She imagined Adrien acting the same, flirty way as Cat; every cocky grin, every bad pun, every flirty comment, every sassy cock of the hips. Her entire body felt like it was melting.

“Oh no…” She muttered so quietly that Alya could barely hear.

“What’s wrong, girl?”

There was no way she could separate the two now. They were one in the same.

“Alya, I don’t know if I can do this? What if he looks at me? What if he touches me?? Alya I might _actually_ _die!_ ”


	13. Chapter 13

Alya spent the next few minutes consoling her friend, telling her not to be worried and reassuring her that Adrien was probably just as nervous as she was. She had no way of knowing the full extent of _why_  her best friend was worried (because there was no possible way she could know about the blonde boy in kitty ears that was currently on Marinette’s mind), but she was now dating _Adrien Agreste_ after all, so the freak out had been expected. Eventually, she got her friend to calm down enough that she was able to suggest that her getting some sleep was the best idea, and Marinette finally agreed.

But before hanging up, Marinette asked Alya to keep it a secret from everyone else for the time being, to which she agreed without hesitation. Chloe finding out was certainly going to be an… _interesting_ thing, and Alya wanted her friend to have some well-deserved happiness before that happened. The two said goodnight and ended the call, agreeing to talk more tomorrow.

Marinette went downstairs to put her dishes in the sink and brush her teeth, and returned to find Tikki already curled up on the side of her pillow, fast asleep.

Her head was spinning. How was she supposed to act normally around Adrien?

To be fair, she had _never_ acted normally around Adrien, but now it was going to be even harder. She knew everything, and though she could act casually around Cat Noir usually, now would be totally different. How could the handsome, charming, _polite_ Adrien be the cocky, silly, _flirty_ Cat Noir? And to make matters worse, he had flirted with her so much! Ok, well not _her_ her, it was with the more confident _Ladybug_ her, but still! Now that she could picture all of Cat's mannerisms and facial expressions so vividly coming from Adrien, she didn’t think she could handle it.

Was she upset? No. Worried? A little. Happy? Yes, but that wasn’t it. So what was she even feeling? She had rejected Cat for so long. She had always known about his feelings but never realized how _serious_ he was about her. Would she have felt differently if not for her feelings for Adrien? She always tried to suppress the few thoughts she had in that way about Cat, but now she could see that there had always been something there, something drawing her to him. Was it really just a coincidence that the person she loved and her partner were one in the same? There was no way.

But what about him? What of his feelings for her out of the mask? He had said he realized he had feelings for Marinette even before she revealed herself. She felt a twinge of guilt at thinking that Adrien would ever say anything disingenuous or lie to her about his feelings. And she knew even Cat wouldn’t blatantly confess unless he was sure. But the idea that _Adrien Agreste_ , the boy who she could hardly even _talk_ to, felt the same way about her as she did about him, the same way he felt about _Ladybug_. Well that was just… Incredible! Totally unimaginable! Simply… _Miraculous!_

She was so beyond ecstatic that her heart felt like it could stop at any minute from beating too fast.

But her thoughts were soon back to Cat. And Adrien acting like Cat. Marinette’s head kept giving her different scenarios; Adrien winking at her after telling a pun, Adrien with black cat ears, Adrien _flirting with her_. She couldn’t take it! This was entirely too much for her to handle. There was no way she would be able to face him at school tomorrow. Maybe she could just skip again?

But no. She promised herself she wouldn’t keep running. And plus, she _wanted_ to see Adrien. To see her _boyfriend_. Just thinking it sent an excited shiver down her spine, and she squealed audibly causing Tikki to rustle in her sleep. Marinette tried to calm herself to avoid waking her kwami, and knew she had to get some rest herself, as well. She would just have to tough it out and try and hope for the best.

Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, half excited and half dreading going back to school tomorrow.

\---

As soon as Marinette hung up, Alya called Nino.

He answered after a few rings with, “Hey, I’ve been waiting for you to call! Man, girls really do talk a lot more than boys.”

“Shut it.” She said, playing annoyed at him. “So you spoke to Adrien?”

“Yes sir! He was all excited because she said he ‘wasn’t funny looking,’ or something. They’re too cute, man, we gotta step up our game.” He joked as Alya scoffed. “But yeah, he’s really happy. How much did you scream when she told you?”

“Rude! I screamed the perfect amount.” she said, playing mad again.

“This is awesome though!” Nino laughed happily. “Everything is finally as it should be.”

Alya was silent for a bit before saying, “I don’t know. It feels… suspicious.”

“Alya…”

“I know, I know. I’m just worried, Nino! What if Adrien just decided he had feelings because he didn’t want to hurt Marinette? Or because we yelled at him? What if his feelings for Ladybug are somehow larger than we thought? What if it wasn’t just a celeb crush? What if he changes his mind?”

"Babe, come on." Nino said reassuringly. "I know Adrien. He wouldn't ever do something that would intentionally make Marinette upset."

"Yeah, ' _intentionally_!'" Said the red head, sounding unconvinced. "What if we were wrong and he knows Ladybug better than we thought? I mean, I probably know more about her than anyone besides Cat Noir, and Adrien obviously is a huge fan of the Ladyblog! And she did save him a few times, so he could have gotten to know her a little. I don't know, Nino, it just seems... _Miraculous_. How it just worked out so perfectly."

"Yeah, I know. I guess you're a bit right." Said Nino, sighing.

"Excuse you, I'm always right. And also, doesn't it strike you as weird that he could fall for two _totally_ different people in such a short period of time? Like, he seemed to just fall for Marinette so quickly." She snapped her fingers near the phone speaker so that her boyfriend could hear, "Just like that."

"Babe, we both had noticed him falling for her. It started happening a long time ago, he just needed this push to realize it. It probably would've taken half as long if Marinette could actually hold a full conversation with him." He chuckled, trying to cheer her up.

Alya sighed on the other line. She wasn't convinced, and Nino could tell.

"Listen, Alya," he said, his tone calm. "Marinette might be clumsy and awkward at times, but she’s also brave, smart, and strong. Not to mention cute. Maybe those are the qualities Adrien fell for in Ladybug. It’s perfectly reasonable to think he could have fallen for the same in Marinette. And everyone likes her! There’s no way the dude would do anything to hurt her, you saw for yourself how much of a wreck he's been the past week."

"I know. It's just… Marinette is my best friend, Nino. You have no idea how much she cried. If he was a wreck then she was ten times worse."

"But now everything is ok, alright? Come on, you're not even a _little_ excited?" He teased.

"You know that if we weren't having this conversation right now I would be literally screaming! I'm just worried. Promise me you'll help keep an eye out for anything fishy?"

"Of course I will." He promised. "But everything's fine."

"I really hope you're right."

"Alya, we both know that _I’m_ the sane and rational one in this relationship." He joked, laughing at her feigned anger.

"Watch yourself, Lahiffe."

“Oh, come on. You know you loveeee meee!” He teased again.

“Yeah, yeah. Good night Nino.” She said. She really did love him, but sometimes she just needed to be a bit crazy. He really _was_ the sane one; but she could never tell him that.

“Good night, Lady Wifi,” He hummed, using her favorite nickname and finally softening her up a bit. She had hated it at first after she had been akumatized, but after a while she grew to love her alter-ego, as long as she pretended she was a super _hero_ instead of a super _villain._ And she had grown attached to the name, especially because of her love for tech and the Ladyblog. But only Nino knew about all that. “I love you.”

“I love you too, DJ.” She said, smiling a little to herself.

\---

Marinette woke up the next morning to her phone alarm blaring. She was extremely groggy but sat up anyway, stretching her arms behind her head. Tikki, who had most likely already been up for a while, flew down to Marinette’s desk to shut off the phone alarm. “Good morning! You set your alarm for a bit earlier than usual today!” she said happily, flying back up to her barely-awake friend.

“Mmm…” mumbled Marinette, rubbing her eyes. “Can’t be late after skipping so much…” She rolled off of her bed and down the ladder, trying not to fall over in her still half-asleep state.

“Are you sure it’s not just because you want to see Adrien?” The kwami teased, grinning.

Marinette’s eyes suddenly opened wide, her sleepiness completely gone. She had forgotten about Adrien.

“Oh no, Tikki! What am I going to do?” she nearly screeched, grabbing the giggling red bug out of the air. “How am I supposed to face him? I can’t do this!”

“Marinette, you know you can! No more running, remember? Everything is going to be ok. I’m sure Adrien is just as nervous!”

Marinette just sighed. Maybe Adrien _was_ nervous as well, but at least he didn’t have to deal with the polite, innocent person (who was also the object of his affections) being a secretly flirty, dweeby Cat.

But Tikki was right. It would be ok; she couldn’t keep escaping. She was Ladybug. She could do this. She could be brave.

And it’s not like Adrien didn’t feel the same way about her. So it would be better than ok. Right?

Right.

She headed downstairs to use the bathroom and brush her teeth and saw her mom preparing breakfast in the kitchen.

“Hello sweetie, how are you feeling today? You seem to be doing a lot better.” Said Sabine, walking up to brush her daughter’s hair away from her eyes.

“Good morning mom.” She said, hugging her. “Yeah, I’m feeling much better actually. I think I’m going to try going to school today. I’ve missed so much, so I want to at least see if I can go in.”

“Okay, well don’t overwork yourself. Call us if you need anything, ok? And I’ll have some soup ready for when you come home at lunch, ok?”

“Yeah, that sounds great! Thanks mom!” Marinette said happily, heading towards the bathroom. Her mom was an excellent cook, and even when she wasn’t sick Marinette loved her soup.

She finished up in the bathroom, taking extra care to make sure her breath didn’t smell even a little bit, and ran back upstairs to get dressed. She didn’t want to just wear her regular clothes, but she also didn’t want to dress too fancy, just in case people started asking questions. The weather was a bit nice today, so she decided a simple, flowy, knee-length skirt with a V-neck t-shirt would be ok.  But what color? Pink was the obvious choice for the skirt, seeing as it was her favorite, and a white top would go well. She put on the clothes and stood to look at herself in the mirror.

“What do you think, Tikki?” she asked, turning this way and that way to look at different angles. “It’s not too fancy right? But it’s not too boring either?”

“I think you look wonderful, Marinette!” Tikki giggled. “But what about your hair? Are you going to do it _special_ for Adrien?”

“W-well… He said he liked my pigtails… so…” She trailed off, her face flushing.

Tikki simply giggled again as she flew over to Marinette’s desk to pick up the hair ties she had abandoned there the night before. “I know!” She squeaked happily, flying back and dropping the hair ties in Marinette’s outstretched hand. “But it’s fun to tease you.”

Marinette pouted at her friend, but eventually giggled along with her. She took extra care to make sure her hair was perfect, and even used some strawberry scented body spray to finish off the outfit.

“Good?” she asked, looking back up at Tikki.

“Shoes, Marinette.” The kwami giggled once again.

“AHH! I ALMOST FORGOT! HOW COULD I FORGET SHOES!?” She shrieked, running to her closet and rummaging around the bottom, trying to find the perfect pair of flats to go along with her skirt.

“Marinette, you need to calm down,” giggled Tikki again. “If you’re this freaked out about shoes what’s going to happen in class?”

“Ughhh Tikki, I just don’t know…” Sighed Marinette, a different shoe in each hand. “I’m just so nervous. What if Adrien is like me. What if he didn’t _register_ me being Ladybug right away? But what if he’s not like me and he doesn’t like it? What if he changed his mind?”

“Marinette,” Tikki said, calmly, floating over to sit on her shoulder. “Adrien said he liked you. _YOU._ Before he even knew you were Ladybug. And he always said from the beginning that he would love who was under the mask no matter what! You’re over reacting. Ladybug and Cat Noir are meant to be together. Me and Plagg can’t be separated forever! We’re two halves of a whole. Just like you and Adrien.” Said the kwami, finally revealing the truth to Marinette. “Ladybug and Cat Noir are destined to be together, and nothing can stop that from happening.”

Marinette blushed and reached up to scratch Tikkis head. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that I would end up with Cat Noir no matter what? Why didn’t you prevent me from liking Adrien? If I was meant to be with Cat, why did you let me have a crush on someone else?”

“Wellll they _are_ the same person.” Tikki teased. “But also, I had a feeling. Usually those who wield the Ladybug and Cat Noir miraculous’ are drawn to each other, and they don’t often have feelings for other people. You didn’t like Adrien until _after_ you met him as Cat Noir, remember? So I thought it might be the case that he was him! Plus, if I had just told you, you wouldn’t have liked it, am I right?”

“Well, I guess that’s all true.” Marinette sighed, smiling lightly. “That explains why Adrien fell for Ladybug so hard. And I guess it also explains why I’m so ok with him being Cat Noir. A-and why I’m actually really happy that it’s him…” she said quietly, turning red again.

“And why he fell for you as Marinette, too! It was meant to be!” Tikki sang happily, hugging Marinette’s cheek.

Marinette squeezed her back, but she suddenly remembered she had to get to school and glanced at the clock. She only had 15 minutes before class started!

“Tikki! I need to go!”

“Marinette! You need shoes first!” The kwami laughed, floating over to a pair of flowery pink dress sneakers that Alya had given her for her birthday. They were her absolute favorite shoes, and she usually didn’t like to wear them to school because she didn’t want them to get dirty. “What about these?”

“Well, I like to save those for special occasions… but I guess this is kind of one, right?” She giggled, pulling on some socks and slipping on the sneakers.

“You look great, Marinette!” Tikki said, clapping her hands together. “And today is going to be great too!”

“I really hope so.” Marinette said, quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's a _lot_ of my personal headcanons for the show in this chapter (Alya wishing she could be the superheroine Lady Wifi and the fact that LB and CN are destined to be together, so that's why Marinette likes Adrien). Hopefully you like them as well!  
>  (Actually, there's a lot of my personal headcanons in this whole fic now that I think about it lol)


	14. Chapter 14

Marinette grabbed her backpack and purse, letting Tikki fly inside before clasping it shut. She quickly ran back downstairs, shouting to her mother that she would grab breakfast from the bakery and that she also needed to bring some sweets for her friends. Sabine waved goodbye and reminded her to call if she was feeling sick again.

Marinette nearly tripped while running down the stairs to the bakery because she was going so fast. She grabbed three pastry boxes and brought them to the front. Luckily the store was empty at the moment, so no one besides her dad would see her stealing the treats.

“Good morning, Marinette!” Tom said cheerily, looking down at his daughter. “You look nice today. Going back to school?”

“Good morning papa! Yes, I’m feeling much better today.” She said, filling two of the boxes with peanut butter cookies. One for Alya, and although she had said not to, one for Nino. She wanted to thank both of them for encouraging her, and helping her out during this whole ordeal. “I hope it’s ok that I take some treats for my friends?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Of course, we have plenty of stuff baking right now and there’s nothing big happening this weekend so we shouldn’t be too busy today. Is it to thank them for taking notes for you?” he chuckled, prepping some macaroons for the display.

“Well… yes…” she said, flushing. “I was gone for a long time, I feel bad.”

“I’m proud that you would do such a nice thing to thank them, no need to be embarrassed!” he said, smiling again.

“I know. Thank you.” She smiled.

She filled the last box with croissants. This one was for Adrien; she knew they were his favorite, and now she had an excuse to give them to him more often. She had always wanted to bring him some, but had been too embarrassed. But now there was no excuse. She marked the first two boxes with an ‘A’ and an ‘N’ for Alya and Nino, and was about to mark the last box but then stopped. Adrien also began with an ‘A,’ and she couldn’t have two boxes with the same label. So what could she put? She contemplated just writing out ‘Adrien’ on the cover, but for some reason she was too shy to put his entire name. Finally, she decided on a small heart in the corner of the box, quickly putting it on the bottom of the stack so her dad wouldn’t see. She would tell her parents about Adrien eventually, but for now there was no way she could work up the courage. Also, it would be a bit difficult to explain that while she was sick and didn’t have a phone she managed to somehow get a boyfriend.

The clock showed she had only five minutes left before school. She quickly finished packing up the three boxes and suddenly realized she should bring one more for the rest of her classmates. They had all sent her such nice messages, and it would be rude to bring something just for her close friends. She grabbed one last, larger box, filling it with an assortment of cookies and writing a large ‘Thank You!’ on the top. Lastly, she turned to say goodbye to Tom, kissing him on the cheek before quickly leaving the store, grabbing a croissant for herself on the way out. She almost ran across the street and up the steps to the school, but had to be careful not to trip and drop everything she was carrying. She was too short to see over the top of four stacked pastry boxes so had to constantly look around the side. Luckily, she made it without any major mishaps.

“Hey, welcome back Marinette!” She heard Kim say as she walked towards the class. Several of her classmates were already near their lockers and standing around in the hall, not wanting to enter the room just yet.

“Yeah, are you feeling better? We were all super worried!” added Alix, holding open the door for her.

“Yes, I am. Thank you all so much for the nice messages! My phone was actually lost for the past few days and I didn’t get it back until last night, but seeing them all once I charged it was really sweet.” She set down the pastry boxes, grabbing the larger one and bringing it towards the teacher’s desk. “I brought these to thank you all.” She said, placing it on the desk.

“Awesome!” shouted Alix, immediately running to grab a cookie. Marinette, you’re the best!”

“Thank you so much.” Max smiled, patting Marinette on the shoulder. “We’re all just glad that you’re back with us and no longer contagious.”

Marinette smiled and turned to head back to her desk, seeing that Nino had just arrived.

“Keeping up the early streak from last week, I see.” He smirked, holding out his hand for a fist bump, which she returned. “I like it.”

“Well, I thought it would be bad to show up late after being gone for so long.” She shrugged.

Nino leaned in closer that so no one else could hear and added, “Congratz, by the way!” in a whisper, winking at her and giving a thumbs up.

Marinette’s face flushed as she stuttered a “T-thank you!” whisper back. She grabbed the pastry box with an ‘N’ written on it and handed it to him. “Alya told me not to give you any.”

“Oh man, Marinette! You didn’t have to do this!” He said in awe, opening the box. “I could have just shared with everyone else!”

“Well, you were really supportive. And I know you helped out… someone else throughout this whole thing,” she said, trying to be vague just in case anyone heard. “So I wanted to thank you.” She smiled to see him already eating one of the cookies.

“Well thank you too-“

“I _said_ Nino couldn’t have any!” A voice said sternly behind them. Marinette turned to see that Alya had arrived, a fake-mad expression plastered on her face and her hands on her hips.

“I know, buttttt,” Marinette said, handing the box with the ‘A’ written on it to her best friend, “You can have more once I catch up with the notes. And you won’t have to share those. Deal?”

“Ughhh fine, I guess.” The red head laughed, taking her box and sitting down behind Nino, patting the top of his head as she walked by. He looked up at her and smiled, making Marinette smile too. She was happy for her friends.

Adrien still hadn’t arrived, and class was going to start any minute, so she placed the last box on his desk and sat down in her seat. The small heart was hardly visible to anyone not looking closely, so she hoped no one else would see it. She was growing more nervous by the second, and her heart felt like it was going to fly out of her chest.

Finally, only a few seconds before their teacher arrived, Adrien ran through the door and into his seat. He looked a bit disheveled (probably from running into the classroom) but otherwise very handsome. It looked like he had also tried to dress a bit nice that day; he was wearing dark dress jeans and a forest green t-shirt that Marinette recognized from his father’s most recent line. His hair was more styled than usual, and even from where she was sitting Marinette could tell he smelled nice, like expensive cologne. He turned back to look at her and smiled, his cheeks flushing almost as red as hers and his bright green eyes shining. “Hi, Marinette.” He said, quietly, waving at her slightly.

“H-hi!” she squeaked, looking down at her desk.

“Ok class, time to settle down!” shouted Ms. Bustier from the front of the room.

Adrien flushed again and turned back around to face forward, finally noticing the box on his desk. Marinette could tell he definitely noticed the heart she had drawn, because he rubbed over it with his thumb. He opened the box and immediately turned around again, gaping at her. “For me?” he mouthed in disbelief.

Marinette nodded, still bright red.

“Mr. Agreste, we are all glad that Marinette is back and we are all grateful for the treats she has brought us, but if I have to tell you to turn around one more time I will have to send you to the principal’s office.”

Adrien turned back again, redder than ever, saying “Sorry, ma’am.” Nino punched his arm playfully, smirking at him, and Marinette could see him mouthing “Shut up!” at his friend, making her giggle.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed, and she looked down to see a message from Alya.

 **Alya:** You’re doing good, girl! Virtual high 5!

Marinette sighed, and typed out a short response.

 **Marinette:** So far. There’s still the entire day waiting for us. I’m already so nervous, I don’t think I can make it…

And she couldn’t have been more right.

Throughout the entire first half of school, Marinette couldn’t concentrate on the lessons. All she kept thinking about was the fact that Adrien was Cat Noir and that he was her _boyfriend_ , as well as what Tikki had said that morning. They were two parts of the same whole- destined to be together. She was getting more nervous by the minute, and she was now completely unable to look at Adrien without imagining cat ears. She used to love the fact that she could stare at him during class, but now it was almost like torture. Why couldn’t _he_ be the one to sit behind _her_?

It was finally almost lunchtime, and she was relieved to have an excuse to leave. She quickly texted Alya a small lie as to why she would be running out so quickly for lunch, saying that her mom was worried and she wanted to get home as soon as possible to prove she was feeling better. The bell finally rang and she ran out, only giving Adrien and Nino a small goodbye as she left.

She felt bad for leaving in such a rush, but she had to calm her head, and being away from Adrien was the only way she could think of doing that right now. She got home fairly quickly and ate lunch with her mother, reassuring her that she was feeling much better. Around halfway through, Sabine left to go take over for Tom in the bakery so he could come upstairs to eat as well. Luckily, her dad’s cheery attitude and his jokes really helped to calm her down, so she thought things would be ok when she returned back to school. But boy was she wrong again.

As soon as she got back into the classroom, her eyes immediately met Adrien’s, who was already back and talking casually with Nino. She gulped hard, all of her previous thoughts rushing back. Her legs were unable to move, and she started to scream at herself internally when Adrien got up and started walking towards her.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked, sounding nervous. She simply nodded and followed him out of the classroom and down the hall. Once they were out of earshot of the rest of their classmates he asked, “Is everything ok? I was hoping we could at least talk a little today, but Alya said you had to go back for lunch because you mom was worried. Sorry I came so late, I took too long getting ready.” He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “I-I wanted to dress a little nicer, you know? Well I mean, you also look super nice today!” he said, flushing red again and glancing at the ceiling.

Marinette was frozen, unable to move or speak. There was no way this could be happening. There was no way it was real. Adrien was saying she looked nice! And he was _nervous_! And he was also worried about what he was going to wear this morning! This was like a dream come true! But why couldn’t she respond. Why was she so nervous? Why couldn’t she just be brave? Why couldn’t she just be like Ladybug?

“Oh, and thank you for the croissants! They’re my favorite! You really didn’t have to do that… especially after everything I put you through this past week… I’m sorry for everything again…” He said, glancing at her. Her expression was indiscernible. She looked a little upset, but he wasn’t completely sure.

“N-NO!” she squeaked, finally speaking to him. “P-please don’t be!”

“I know it’s dumb,” he said, looking down and shuffling his feet, “But I’m still really worried that you’re mad. Or that you don’t feel the same anymore, or something… I’m just so happy now, and I don’t want anything to ruin this. Marinette, I-“

“P-please don’t apologize anymore!” she said. She could hear the words coming out of her mouth but she had no control. Her body was acting on its own and her thoughts were a complete mess. “W-we have to go. Class is starting.” She managed to say before turning to run back towards the classroom. The exact opposite of what she actually wanted to do. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t she just be honest? Why couldn’t she just tell Adrien how she was feeling right now? He was definitely going to think she was acting weird, and be upset at her. She was ruining everything, and she didn’t know why.

Adrien simply stared after her, completely dumbfounded. Maybe she actually _wasn’t_ okay. Was this too much? Could he have been right, and she _was_ actually mad at him? Or maybe she took some times to think last night and realized this wasn’t what she wanted. Maybe finding out that he was Cat Noir was something she just couldn’t accept. He was so happy that his Lady turned out to be Marinette. Everything he had ever wanted had finally come true, but could his bad luck really be taking over?

He slowly walked back to class, arriving late and receiving another scolding from Ms. Bustier, but he didn’t care. His mind was on other things right now. Specifically, his girlfriend sitting behind him, with her head face down on the desk, most likely planning how to dump him gently. It took everything he had not to let the tears fall.

\---

Marinette wanted to cry. Why had she acted that way? She was so happy, things were going great! But she had to go and ruin it. Luckily, Ms. Bustier didn’t comment on the fact that she had her head down for most of the remainder of school, most likely because she attributed it to her still being sick.

Marinette had received several messages from Alya, and even one from Nino, asking what was going on and if she was okay, but she ignored them. She just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. Why couldn’t she just get over herself? Why couldn’t she just talk to Adrien like a normal person?

Finally, the bell rang and class ended. Marinette, just like at lunch, tried to make a break for the door, but Alya stopped her. “Oh no you don’t!” she said, grabbing Marinette’s arm. “What is going on? I thought things were going okay?”

But before Marinette could even think of an excuse, someone else spoke up.

“Ughh, if you’re still sick then don’t come into school, no one else wants to catch your _disease_.” Sneered a voice from behind her. Of course. Chloe just _had_ to appear at the worst times.

“She’s fine, Chloe.” Retorted Alya.

“She’s obviously not. She was sleeping in class. And she’s _clearly_ delusional, I mean, look at those _hideous_ sneakers! No healthy person would he caught dead leaving the house in _those_!” Chloe laughed rudely, pointing towards Marinette’s feet.

“Chloe, leave her alone,” said a third voice. Adrien had finally walked over, hoping to try and talk about everything with Marinette before she could escape. He needed to fix whatever he had done to cause her to be this upset. Or, well, he had to at least find out what that was and try to do anything he could.

“Oh, Adrikins!” Chloe said in an exaggeratedly over-worried voice, throwing her arms around him. “I know you were just being _kind_ earlier when you talked to her, probably just asking how she was feeling, but you shouldn’t be that nice to _her_! You might catch something! It would be _horrible_ if you were too sick to go to one of your photo shoots!”

Adrien quickly shrugged Chloe off looking slightly disgusted. He was about to respond to her when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Marinette rushing towards the door and Alya looking completely annoyed. He tried to run after her, calling her name, but she was already gone.

“Thanks, Chlo.” He mumbled, returning to his desk to grab his bag.

“What? I didn’t do anything.” She said, tossing her blonde ponytail behind her.

Adrien ran out of the class, leaving behind Chloe and Alya who were now arguing with each other about how fashionable Marinette’s sneakers were. He had to speak to Marinette. Even if things didn’t work out, he had to at least apologize for whatever he had done. He hated to push her, or force her to do anything she didn’t want to do, but he couldn’t simply leave things like this. And he knew a way that she wouldn’t be able to run away anymore.


End file.
